Through the Eyes of Death
by Writing bunny
Summary: Naruto was touched by the Shinigami at birth. It left an effect, that is both a gift and a curse. How will Naruto deal?
1. Chapter 1

A.N.: Here comes the first chapter of my second multichapter story. For all my ranting against retelling of canon, a plot bunny came to me and wouldn't leave me alone until I wrote it down. Second chapter would appear whenever the bunny comes back. I still have Little wooden men as my main project.

Warning: Sticks close to canon.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto. IfI did, I'd fire Kishimoto.

* * *

**Through the eyes of death**

* * *

Naruto was running through the streets. He was weaving through the crowds of living citizens of Konoha with expert grace. His pursuers were less skilled at passing through busy streets and he was gaining on them. But his bright orange jumpsuit shone like a beacon amongst the moderately dressed people and they managed to keep him within their sights. Naruto didn't mind. He loved the thrill of the chase. That was why he splashed the two chuunin with neon orange paint.

He threw a glance over his shoulder. They had left the busiest avenue and the two enraged shinobi were gaining on him again. He smirked. Everything was going according to his plan. He kept his pace and headed to a certain lane. The two were almost upon him. He turned to a side street and sped up. The pair followed him. Naruto pulled on a ninja wire nearly invisible to anyone who didn't know it was there. The two chuunin entered the alley exactly as the trap sprung. A tripwire made them stumble while the stack of empty crates piled up near a wall toppled over. Naruto laughed as his pursuers were buried underneath them. He listened to their angry shouts for a while before heading off. He wanted to be far away when they finally dug themselves out.

He noticed Iruka-sensei lurking behind a fence. Naruto saw him through his concealing genjutsu, it covered his body perfectly, but it couldn't hide his soul. He pretended not to notice him until the teacher grabbed his collar. Then he pretended surprise.

"Iruka-sensei! What are you doing here?"

"Why aren't you in class, Naruto," the Academy instructor chastised him. "The graduation exam is in less than a week. Do you want to fail again?"

"Of course not," he boasted. "I'm an amazing ninja! I'll graduate with no effort at all."

"Naruto," Iruka spoke in a patient tone, "you can't even do a single Bunshin. How do you want to graduate?"

"Heh, just you watch," the boy grinned, "I'll graduate this year for sure, believe it!"

"I'd believe it if you put as much effort to your studies as you do to your pranks," the teacher chastised him.

"But that stuff is boring," he pouted.

Iruka just sighed exasperatedly and dragged his unruly charge to the classroom.

* * *

Naruto wasn't boasting. He really could graduate if he wanted. Even though the simple Bunshin was still giving him trouble, he could do the Mizu Bunshin almost with no effort, as long as there was a water source nearby. The problem was he couldn't explain where he learned it. If most people in Konoha treated him like plague now, he didn't know what they would do if he confessed he could talk to dead people. That was his ability, he could see people's souls, both alive and dead. He figured he gained it when the Kyuubi no Kitsune was sealed into him, whether thanks to the demon itself or the touch of the Death God, he wasn't sure. It wasn't like he could ask. He wasn't supposed to know about the sealing, but there were too many souls lurking around speaking about it.

It wasn't easy to find a spirit that would talk to him. The ghosts wandering around were the souls that couldn't find rest, thanks to something from their lives weighting on their conscience, chaining them to the earth. They tended to pace aimlessly, muttering about whatever was bothering them. Only a few retained their minds and were able to hold a conversation with him. Some of them called him names, seeing him as the demon, but he didn't hold it against them. He could see the sheer terror they went through reflected in their aura. If attacking him verbally helped them find their rest, they were welcomed to do so. He just hated when they touched him. It was so cold and it sent icy shivers through his body, like the sun stopped shining for a moment. That was also the reason he wore orange and pranked people so much. He had to assure himself he was still alive and not one of the colorless cold apparitions idling around.

When he met a ghost of shinobi willing to talk to him, he considered it a huge success. Some of them talked about the missions they undertook and sometimes died on, but some even showed him some of their tricks. Naruto tried his best to remember and recreate them. It made the bulk of his ninja knowledge. He had a lot of holes in his basic education, but he knew some of the advanced stuff.

* * *

Naruto was sitting at his desk in the Academy classroom, utterly bored as Iruka-sensei droned about the history of Konoha.

"Naruto!" Iruka's voice hit him just as he was about to drift off. "Can you tell me what was the special ability of the Shodai Hokage?"

Naruto had met the Shodai's ghost two years ago near the Hokage tower. The founder of Konoha was really interesting to spend time with and Naruto could boast knowing more about him than almost anyone else in the Leaf village. But he couldn't tell.

"Uh, wasn't it something with trees?" He scratched his head nervously.

"That's not enough, Naruto," Iruka said exasperatedly.

"Aw, come on, why do we even need to know such details?"

"That's important knowledge, you baka," Sakura shouted hitting him on the head.

"What was that for, Sakura-chan?" He rubbed his head and made puppy eyes on her.

Naruto liked Sakura. For ordinary people it was impossible to understand why. She obviously disliked him and kept hitting him on the head for the smallest offense. Random observers couldn't understand how he can be so thick not to notice she hated him and was hopelessly in love with Uchiha Sasuke. The truth was Naruto realized it very well. She just made him feel alive with her punches. Every time he felt like he was drifting into the realm of ghosts, he would annoy her and her fist would ground him back into the world of living. He decided he would graduate this year just for her. He hoped he would get her on his team.

"For being a baka!"

"Stop it, you two," Iruka yelled. "We're in the middle of the class." The lesson resumed.

* * *

The day of the graduation finally came. Naruto was anxious. Not that he might fail, but that he might pass. If anybody found out about that, they would be befuddled. Naruto always shouted he wanted to be the Hokage, and usually meant it, so why wouldn't he want to graduate? It would be easier to understand if they knew how many dead shinobi he spoke with. It quickly stripped him of all delusions of glory in the shinobi life. He had almost as good understanding of the perils and misery of ninja career as seasoned war veterans. Although he considered himself fairly good ninja for his age and he was right, he knew there were many better who wouldn't care he was just a kid and would kill him with pleasure. He wanted to get good before going out there. That was why he spectacularly botched his options at earlier graduation, but he couldn't afford to delay graduation any further. His yearmates would be graduating today and he needed to be among them if he didn't want to look like an even bigger loser than he already did.

The morning of the tests came and Naruto did his best. The written test gave him trouble, reading wasn't his strongest skill. Thrown weapons test was better, but he got the worst set of kunai and shuriken the instructors could procure. It was difficult to hit anything with that, but he managed a passing grade. Taijutsu practice wasn't much better. He knew the theory, but he didn't have anyone to spar with outside the lessons. Then came the ninjutsu test. And of course it had to be Bunshin.

Naruto watched as the instructors called one pupil after another to a separate room. After a while they returned with a brand new hitai-ate.

"Uchiha Sasuke," Iruka called. The brooding boy got up and sauntered to the door accompanied by multiple "ooohs" and "aaahs" of his fangirls. Naruto pitied him. The ghosts of his murdered family followed him everywhere. He used to try to help him, but The Last Uchiha was crystal clear on the fact that he would rather die than accept help from the class dobe.

Sasuke passed the test and returned with a massive applause from his fanclub. Now it was Naruto's turn. He covertly uncorked the water bottle hidden in his utility pouch before walking to the examination room.

"Well Naruto," Iruka said, "All you need to do is create two perfect Bunshin."

"Just you watch," Naruto grinned. "Bunshin no Jutsu!" A large cloud of smoke appeared. Naruto used it to hide his movements and silently created two Water Clones from the supply he brought along. It was a tricky business, because the amount of water was limited, but he had practiced it and proved that with enough control it is doable. He just had to spread the water along the surface of the clones and make them hollow. Unfortunately chakra control was one area he struggled with.

The cloud cleared and Naruto anxiously glanced at his handiwork. To his left stood a perfect copy of himself, grinning. To his right – the clone ran out of water. It's head was missing. _No_, thought Naruto, frantically willing the clone to form fully.

"I'm sorry, Naruto," Iruka said, "you failed to make two perfect Bunshin. I cannot let you pass."

"No!" Naruto shouted. His clones dissolved into puddles.

"What is it," Iruka asked startled. His assistant Mizuki looked interested.

"Mizu Bunshin," Naruto admitted. There was no reason to lie, the two chuunin should be able to recognize the jutsu of their own.

"How do you know it," Iruka demanded.

"I saw somebody doing it," he answered. It wasn't entirely a lie.

"And you learned it just like that?" Iruka was dubious.

"Yes," Naruto nodded.

"I think we should let him pass," Mizuki proposed. "He made one perfect clone."

"He was supposed to make two," Iruka objected.

"I ran out of water," Naruto explained. "If I had more, I could make an army of Mizu Bunshin."

"There won't be always a supply of water at hand, Naruto," Iruka said. "I'm sorry but I can't let you pass, that is unless you can make two perfect Bunshin, and this time the regular kind, no fancy Water jutsu."

"Okay," Naruto said subdued. He still had chance. He concentrated and tried to create the basic Bunshin. _Control,_ he thought. _Use just the precise amount of chakra and you'll make it._ The cloud of chakra dispersed, revealing two sickly pale and deformed apparitions keeled over on the ground. Naruto grimaced. He had made better attempts before.

"I'm sorry, Naruto, but I cannot let you pass," Iruka said grimly.

"Isn't it harsh," Mizuki asked. Naruto didn't understand why was the silver-haired instructor trying to help him. He had never cared for him before. _Probably doesn't want to deal with me anymore,_ he decided.

"No, and this is final. If he can't make perfect Bunshin anytime, that he'd just be a hindrance to his teammates and can get them all killed."

* * *

Naruto was sitting on the swing in the Academy yard. He watched the happy graduates and their proud parents celebrating today's success. _Fools,_ he thought. They had no idea what they were getting themselves into. He reckoned most of them would be dead soon, especially Sasuke's fanclub. Lot of dead fresh genin gathered around to haunt their teachers for failing to prepare them properly. The Academy graduation test was wrong and narrow-minded in his opinion, when it failed him and let airheads like them pass. They should do something else, like give them a simulated mission and grade how effectively they could complete it. He could then show off a lot of skills the current test didn't even touch upon.

"Hello, Naruto."

"Hello, Mizuki-sensei." The boy slowly turned to the newcomer.

"Iruka doesn't mean to be harsh," the teacher said, "you must understand." Naruto understood. He could see Iruka's love to his students and his pain over the loss of his parents. Talking to ghosts made him surprisingly well informed. He just couldn't speak of any of this. "He wants you to be prepared the best before you go out to the fields. It's dangerous out there." _No kidding, _Naruto thought but said nothing. "But I see you are a talented boy who really deserved to graduate this year. This is why I'll tell you what Iruka hid from you. There is another way to graduate."

Naruto perked up. Not that he wanted to become genin so badly, but because something stunk about this situation. Mizuki never liked him, so why was he suddenly being so nice? Naruto could see the dark tones in his soul. The silver-haired instructor wasn't a good person, he was almost certain. But he said nothing and listened.

* * *

It was already night when Naruto was stealthily making his way towards the Hokage tower. It was supposed to be the best guarded building in whole Konoha, but when somebody had talked with the spirit of the architect, it was possible to find a safe way in. It wasn't easy by any means, but Naruto was a crafty young ninja and knew a few tricks to fool intruder detecting seals, thanks to another ghost who shared his knowledge with him.

The window of Hokage's office wasn't closed. Naruto sneaked through the gap. He dropped to the floor and released the transformation making him appear like an animal. This was another of his secrets. He could really change his shape, not just appearance, but when he transformed into something of different size, it was very draining on his chakra.

He took a look around. Where was what he came looking for?

A side door opened and the Sandaime appeared there.

"What are you doing here, Naruto?"

* * *

Naruto was sitting on the grass near the shack Mizuki told him to wait. He was studying the Forbidden Scroll. The first jutsu was a godsend. The Kage Bunshin was exactly what he needed. He carefully studied the description and then started practicing.

A few hours later he leaned against the wall with a satisfied smile. He had made it. He was tired, but he was happy. Nothing stood in the way of his graduation now. He waited for Mizuki to appear. Iruka came instead.

"What are you doing, Naruto," the chuunin-instructor asked desperately. _Oh no,_ thought the boy, _this wasn't supposed to happen. What now?_

"Iruka-sensei," he flashed him his patented wide grin. When in doubt, play dumb. That strategy usually paid off. "Look, I already learned the jutsu! Can I graduate now?"

"Naruto, who told you that," Iruka demanded.

"Mizuki-sensei did. He told me if I learn one jutsu from this scroll, I'll graduate."

That was when Mizuki finally showed up. Naruto saw him in time, but Iruka first noticed him only when the kunai flew out of the tree. Naruto jumped out of the way. Iruka had no idea his student possessed such good reflexes and tried to protect him. He ended up hit instead, but his flak vest took most of the damage.

"Iruka-sensei," Naruto shouted in alarm. He didn't want anything to happen to the teacher because of him.

Mizuki jumped out of the tree. "Give me the scroll, Naruto!"

"Mizuki-sensei?" The boy put on his best confused expression. "What's going on?"

"Naruto don't!" Iruka shouted. "Whatever happens, don't give him the scroll! It contains dangerous forbidden jutsu! He mustn't get his hands on it!"

"Naruto, there's no point in you having it," Mizuki smiled, "so be a good boy and give it to me."

"No. I haven't finished studying it yet. I can become an even more awesome ninja with this and then everybody would love me!"

"Naruto," Mizuki smiled darkly, "they aren't going to love you no matter what you do. Do you want to know why? I'll tell you."

"Don't!" Iruka shouted, but Mizuki ignored him.

"Twelve years ago, the Kyuubi no Kitsune attacked this village. They told you that the Fourth Hokage killed it, but that is not true."

"No?" Naruto looked befuddled.

"That day a special rule was created. A rule everybody but you knew." That wasn't true, Naruto knew it as well, one man executed for violating it told him. "The rule was never meant to be told to you."

"What's the rule? Tell me already," Naruto demanded.

"No!" Iruka yelled. Mizuki chuckled evilly.

"The rule is, that nobody was allowed to tell you that the Kyuubi wasn't in fact destroyed. You are the Kyuubi!"

"And you are an idiot."

"What?" Whatever response the traitorous chuunin was expecting, that wasn't it. He didn't get the chance to ponder about it long. Two Anbu appeared out of nowhere, restraining him. Mizuki was startled, but regained his composure quickly. He gathered his strength and managed to free one of his arms. A kunai appeared in his hand and he hurled it at Naruto with all his might before one of the Anbu hit him on the head, knocking him out.

Naruto saw the weapon sailing towards him, but he had momentarily let his guard down and wasn't quick enough to get out of its way. _Stupid,_ he thought. Like he never heard all the tales of what got various shinobi killed. Iruka saw it as well, but couldn't get to his student in time. The kunai hit Naruto below the ribs. Iruka watched in horror as the boy toppled backwards.

"No!" He shouted. Then Naruto exploded in a puff of smoke. "What?" Iruka blinked in surprise.

"That was a Shadow Clone, Iruka-sensei," Naruto's voice explained from behind. Iruka turned to see the blond coming out of the shack. Iruka was confused.

"This was a trap," he asked.

"Yes," Naruto confirmed.

"Good job, Uzumaki" said one of the Anbu. His partner had disappeared, carrying the unconscious Mizuki on his back. "Now let's return the scroll."

"Of course." Naruto picked up the scroll and headed to the Hokage tower. Iruka tagged along.

* * *

"So let me get this straight, Naruto," Iruka said over a bowl of ramen. "Mizuki told you he'd let you graduate if you take the Forbidden Scroll, but you didn't believe him." Naruto nodded between slurps. He was finishing his second bowl. "So you sneaked in to the Hokage tower to tell the Sandaime about it." Naruto again nodded. "He then decided that you'd lay a trap for Mizuki and allowed you to take out the Scroll and learn one jutsu."

"Yes." Naruto finished his bowl and Ayame hadn't brought him another yet.

"You then waited for Mizuki on the spot he told you to wait and studied the Scroll, while two Anbu watched you didn't try anything the Hokage didn't allow." Naruto nodded, once again slurping the noodles happily. "You mastered an A-rank kinjutsu within a couple of hours and then replaced yourself with a clone while the real you hid." Another nod. "That is when I came. Oh, and the Hokage promised you he'd make you genin if you can complete the mission successfully. Did I miss anything?"

"Nothing important."

"You did well, Naruto," Iruka complimented him. "I only don't understand why you never do that well in class."

"Are you sure you want to know the answer?" Naruto's tone was somber. It went completely against the image Iruka had of him. He suddenly felt like he was looking at a stranger.

"Can I have another bowl," the boy asked in his usual boisterous tone and the odd moment was gone. Iruka shook his head. He must have been imagining things. He didn't ask the question again.

* * *

A.N.: Liked it? Hated it? Let me know.


	2. Chapter 2

A.N.: So I finnaly got out the second chapter. I have no idea when the next would be out.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto. If I did, I'd completely rewrite it.

**Through the Eyes of Death**

* * *

Naruto went to the Hokage tower to get his shinobi registration. Sarutobi was sitting at the desk, a chuunin at his side helping with the paperwork. He showed him his fun registration form and then listened to the lecture about proper shinobi behavior. It was almost worse that listening to the ghost of shinobi droning on how the Hokage sent him on a suicidal mission, apparently sometime during the Second Great Shinobi War. When he was told he had to retake his photo, he showed him the serious one. The elderly man looked at him with an unreadable expression and asked why he couldn't just show it outright.

Before he could answer, he noticed another ghost charging at the Hokage, this one of a young child. He briefly wondered what could somebody so young have against the village leader. Then he noticed Sarutobi's eyes straying towards the newcomer. _Can he see him too,_ he wondered. Then he realized the child was still alive. _Curse it, I'm losing it again,_ he realized. _Time to visit Sakura-chan._

The attacking boy tripped on his scarf and fell on his face. He picked himself up and glared around furiously. His eyes settled at Naruto.

"You set a trap here," he accused.

"You tripped over your feet," the blond corrected. The smaller child looked like he wanted to argue, but that moment a man ran through the door.

"Are you alright," he asked. "And there isn't a trap anywhere!"

"I know there is," the brat claimed. "He set it up!" He pointed at Naruto. The orange-clad fresh genin didn't see what his problem was, but he definitely didn't like his attitude.

"Don't blame your clumsiness on others," he said.

"I'm not clumsy!" The short boy jumped at Naruto in an attempt of a threatening attack. It would have been much more impressive if he didn't trip over his scarf again. He would have landed quite painfully if the blond didn't catch him.

"Let go of him!" The man with glasses and bandanna shouted. _Geeze, can't they show a bit of gratitude? I just saved the brat from hurting himself. What's his problem anyway? Oh, wait, I already know._

"Yeah, let go of me," the brat in question punched Naruto's arm, "'cos I'm the Hokage's grandson!" He looked at the older boy challengingly, like he expected him to do something. _Spoiled brat_, decided Naruto. _Does he think he has it bad? He needs a wake-up._

"So what," he shouted back daringly.

"So come on! Go ahead and punch me, if you aren't like all the others!" The young jinchuuriki had no idea what was that about, but this twerp was seriously annoying him. He decided to ignore the fact that the Hokage was watching and punched. He barely put any force behind it, but the younger boy was so surprised that he fell down and stared at Naruto stupidly.

"How dare you," yelled the bespectacled man. "How dare you punch the Honorable Grandson?! And you, Honorable Grandson, don't lose your time with the likes of him. You should focus on training instead. If you learn shinobi arts from me, an elite tutor…"

Naruto listened in disbelief as the man droned on. _This is what the poor kid has to put up with every day? Most ghosts aren't that bad. I owe him an apology. Bah, I'm not apologizing to anyone._

He noticed the kid was slowly inching towards the door. He decided it was a good idea. He already handed in his papers and he didn't have to be there anymore. He quietly made his way out. The man with bandanna didn't even notice it, still engulfed in his monologue. So was the dead guy behind the Hokage.

* * *

Naruto noticed he had picked up a stalker. _Not another one,_ he groaned inwardly. But unlike Hinata, he didn't need his special sense to detect this one. The mop of dark-brown hair was popping everywhere, around corners, behind trees, above a sideways-held camouflage cloth. The blond decided that enough was enough. He turned around and snatched the cloth away, revealing the completely unashamed figure of Hokage's grandson.

"Impressive, you could see through my cover," the brown-haired boy said. _Not impressive at all, considering your utter incompetence,_ thought Naruto, but before he could say it, the brat continued. "It seems the rumors about you are true." _That depends._ "I'll make you my boss!"

"What?!" _Just what I need, being a 'boss' to a tiny whiny brat._

"You heard me! You'll be my boss and in return you'll have to teach me a jutsu!" _Really a spoiled one,_ the blond scowled. "Please, Boss?" The child unleashed the dreaded Puppy dog eyes. Naruto never had to face them before and thus had no reason to develop a tolerance. _Besides it sounds good to be called 'boss' for once,_ he thought. _Now what to teach him?_ He smiled. He had the perfect idea. It might even give that stuffy teacher of his an aneurism.

* * *

Naruto and Konohamaru, as his self-appointed apprentice introduced himself, were taking a break from their training. The blond had to admit that his new pupil wasn't a bad character, that is when he wasn't currently being a brat, which didn't happen often. He found himself enjoying his company, even if his student was completely incompetent at what he was trying to teach him. He asked him a question that was bothering him ever since the dark-haired boy made his appearance.

"Why do you keep attacking your grandpa like that?" Konohamaru then launched into an explanation of his name and the so-called curse it meant for him. Naruto listened in silence.

"You got it backwards," he said when the younger boy finished. "You have to first become a great and respected ninja and only then you can be considered for the new Hokage. And that isn't going to happen if you insist on being a brat."

"What do you know about me?!" Konohamaru shouted in rage_. Seems we're back to brat again,_ he sighed. _If that's how you want to play…_

"If you want to be Hokage, than beat me first!" Naruto shouted with enthusiasm.

"You bet I will! From now on we're rivals!" Konohamaru responded in kind. _I liked him better as my underling,_ Naruto thought. _Can I turn it back? Probably not._

"You're on," he shouted. Then he noticed somebody approaching rapidly. _Oh no,_ he thought when he recognized him. Then Ebisu jumped onto the clearing.

"Come home, young master," the self-proclaimed elite tutor commanded. "If you want to become Hokage…" _blah blah blah blah…_

"No," his charge shouted. "I'll defeat the old geezer so don't stand in my way! I'll defeat you too! Sexy no jutsu!"

Konohamaru outdid himself. Ebisu's jaw hit the ground upon seeing the gorgeous brunette and even one of the ghosts present looked like he would have gotten a nosebleed, if he still had blood. Naruto felt pride at his new friend's accomplishment.

"Well done, Konohamaru," he praised his pupil. "Now behold a true master's work. Harem no Jutsu!" Ebisu couldn't handle it anymore and fainted.

"I see I still have much to learn before I can beat you, rival," Konohamaru said, now back in his original form, wide-eyed. "But I will beat you! I'll do it in no time! You'll see!"

"You'll have to work long and hard before you can get as good as me," Naruto smirked. "And I'll be working hard in the meantime too. If you want to be the Hokage, you have to go a long way and you can't take any shortcuts."

"Stop lecturing me like you know everything," the younger boy pouted. "I'm not letting you to be my boss anymore!" It stung.

"Who would want to have such a lousy underling anyway?! You're not getting anywhere with that kind of attitude. I'm a real ninja now. I can't waste my time with kids who don't know what's good for them." Konohamaru looked dejected. Naruto pitied him in that moment. "I might be your rival if you truly work at surpassing me."

"Deal," the younger boy shouted. Naruto smiled. It looked like the beginning of an interesting relationship.

* * *

The day of team assignments finally came. Naruto had woken early in the morning and went through his regular training schedule. Then he encountered a ghost who seemed willing to talk, but he didn't manage to pry any useful information out of him. The blond sighed, but wasn't too disappointed. Those things happened regularly to him. A quick glance at the sky revealed the sun high on its daily voyage through the heavenly ocean. He startled. He spent there more time than he had thought. Now he might miss the grand occasion.

He took one look at his clothes. At one point he tried sparring with his Shadow Clone and ended rolling through the dirt. The sweat he had worked up in the unusually hot weather didn't help either. He wrinkled his nose. He would have to change before going to the Academy.

He ran home at the highest speed and took a quick shower, than put on his best orange jacket. It looked almost the same as all his other ones, but this one had less tears in it. His stomach rumbled. He had no time to prepare breakfast, but he could grab something ready. Unfortunately his fridge was understocked, the only available option being a carton of milk. Naruto sniffed it suspiciously. It had been there for quite some time. Was it still good? The boy wasn't sure, but his growling stomach overrode his brain. He downed it in a few gulps. He wiped his mouth in his sleeve and ran towards the Academy.

It turned out he wasn't as late as he had originally feared. When he surveyed the room, he noticed several people he knew had passed were still missing. He had to answer the uncomfortable question of what he was doing there when he failed the graduation and then looked for a place to sit. There seemed to be two places empty beside Sasuke, but he could see his parents sitting there. There was another next to Hinata, but he feared the stalker girl might faint at his close proximity. He had once considered getting close to her, but he refrained in the end. He didn't want to drag her into his world. Then he noticed two latecomers nearing the classroom and his decision was made. He sat right into the misty form of Uchiha Mikoto, ignoring the chill running through his body. He got the faint impression that the dead matron scowled, but he didn't care.

He watched with amusement as Sakura and Ino fought furiously over who got into the room first. He couldn't decide whether their rivalry was funny or annoying.

The girls finally burst through the unfortunate door and Sakura walked up to Naruto.

"Move out," she commanded. "I want to sit next to Sasuke!" _I can't see why,_ thought Naruto. Uchiha Fugaku was already occupying the seat, sneering at the world.

"Can't you sit next to me," he pouted. She scowled. Ino scowled. Mikoto, standing beside her, mirrored the action. "Please," he added. Sakura instead of answering just hit him on his head and jumped over him right into the body of Uchiha Fugaku. The dead clan head sneered and then turned to Naruto.

"_It's your fault,"_ he said. The blond ignored him. He never understood why the Uchiha clan acted like their demise was his fault. He knew he shouldn't show any sign of noticing the spirit at all, but he couldn't keep the scowl from his face. The clan patriarch took offense. He struck the boy. Even though he couldn't physically harm him, the cold floating into his veins was very, very uncomfortable. Naruto couldn't bear it anymore and jumped from his seat. Unfortunately at that moment a boy sitting in the lower row, Kouta was his name, moved and pushed Naruto in such a way he fell right on Sasuke. Their faces touched. _Oh no,_ thought the blond. He pushed himself off, but the damage was already done. Sakura towered above him, her eyes blazing with fury. Ino's figure was only slightly less menacing. Naruto knew he was in for it. _Well, I said I needed it just yesterday._

* * *

Naruto pushed himself into his seat. _That was more than I bargained for,_ he thought. His whole body was hurting and even his enhanced healing would take quite some time to undo all the damage the enraged Sasuke fanclub had inflicted. Every occupant of the classroom, dead Uchiha included, was sneering at his misfortune.

Finally Iruka-sensei entered the classroom and everybody's attention turned to him.

"Quiet," he ordered and the chatter died down immediately. Then he launched a speech about their upcoming duty as shinobi of Konohagakure and the various perils accompanying their carrier choice_. If he really wanted to make a lasting impression, he shouldn't be so boring,_ Naruto thought. He noticed several people dozing off, not only the obligatory slacker Shikamaru. Finally the speech ended and the main event came, namely the team assignments. Naruto watched with mild interest as various names were called and the genin in question reacted to their placement with either joy or disappointment. He waited for his name to come up. Finally.

"Team Seven: Uzumaki Naruto," he perked up. "Haruno Sakura," he jumped with joy. Just what he had wished for. "And Uchiha Sasuke." _No!_ Was he really stuck with the entire Uchiha clan? He groaned in disappointment even as Sakura cheered on the victory of true love.

"Why does an outstanding shinobi like me have to be in the same team as the prick over there?" Sakura looked at him like he just murdered her puppy. _Good. Maybe that ridiculous display would make them reconsider the team assignments._ Iruka scowled at him. _Or maybe not._

"Naruto," the teacher started in a patient tone reserved for the slowest of pupils. _Does he really think I'm that stupid? He should have learned that lesson with Mizuki. _"The teams are made to be balanced. Sasuke's scores were the best out of the twenty-seven graduates, while you were the dead-last." _I want to see what good would his scores do to him once we're attacked by an enemy squad,_ Naruto thought grimly. _Whose bright idea was it to let bureaucrats who probably weren't in the field since their genin days teach here anyway? Once I'm Hokage I'm going to change it._

"Just don't get into my way, dead-last," Sasuke muttered. That was another reason he didn't want to be on the same team with The Last Uchiha. His Ego was so big that it could pass as a team on its own. He said so aloud. Sakura punched him, Iruka sighed exasperatedly. He proceeded to read the assignment of Team Eight, clearly considering the matter closed.

"In the afternoon, we'll introduce your jounin-senseis," said Iruka once everyone was placed on a team. "Until then take a break." The students started to disperse, discussing the pros and cons of their new squads.

Sasuke rose silently and walked out of the door, Sakura following him like a lost puppy. Sasuke pretended she didn't exist. Naruto scowled. This wasn't good. They were supposed to be a team and they weren't able to get on with each other. That would make them fail their sensei's test for sure.

Naruto had heard about the test from one poor little graduate who failed it and was so desperate he committed suicide. He than wandered around the training grounds, muttering about teamwork, bells and one-eyed perverts. Naruto never quite gathered what exactly was the test like, but he knew it was a team pass-or-fail. He had to explain it to his teammates and get them to at least tolerate each other for the time being, else they were sure to fail. For a moment he considered failing on purpose to get out of Sasuke's team, but then decided against it. Considering what trouble he had with graduation this year, they might be able to block him entirely the next. And besides, he really wanted to be with Sakura. It meant he had to talk to two people who didn't want to speak to him. He sighed and went to search for his wayward teammates.

He found Sakura easily, she was sitting alone on a park bench, looking dejected. Sasuke had obviously given her the slip. He walked up to her. She gave him an angry glare and proceeded to ignore him. This wouldn't do.

"Hello, Sakura-chan," he greeted her. She didn't deign him with an answer. "Can I sit with you, now we are teammates?"

"No." Her tone didn't leave any doubt she really meant it. That wasn't good.

"I need to talk to you," he announced.

"Get lost," she scowled.

"It's important," he said seriously, but she was unimpressed.

"I'm not interested."

"It's about the team." He couldn't give up. It didn't sit well with her.

"I said get lost." Her cute face scrunched in annoyance.

"That's a bad attitude to have," Naruto couldn't help but say. It wasn't the smartest thing to do.

"I said shut up, baka." Sakura cracked her knuckles.

"Do you want to stay in the team with Sasuke," he fired his most powerful weapon. She hit him.

"Leave me alone!" The pink-haired girl shrieked. "I'd won Sasuke's heart a long time ago if you weren't interfering all the time! I don't want to have anything to do with you!"

"That's a problem," he pointed out, "we're teammates now, remember?"

"Get lost!" Her eyes were blazing with fury.

Naruto realized that reasoning would get him nowhere and left. He'd try to talk to Sasuke, but he doubted he'd get a better response.

He found the dark-haired boy on a balcony, eating his lunch and brooding. His family stood with him and greeted Naruto with icy glares. Sasuke simply ignored him.

"I need to talk to you." No reaction. Naruto mused whether it was better or worse than Sakura. "Our jounin-sensei will give us a test to see whether he'd take us or send us back to the Academy. I don't know what the test is, but it's a test of teamwork. Whole team either passes or fails." Sasuke didn't show whether he heard him at all, but Naruto thought he noticed a glimmer of interest in his eyes, but with the Uchiha it was hard to tell. He hoped it wasn't just his wishful thinking. "That's all. I'll be going." Sasuke continued eating his lunch. Naruto could only pray that he remembered his words. He didn't dare to hope that Sasuke would take them to his heart, after all an Uchiha would never take advice from the class dobe.

Naruto returned to where Sakura was still sitting. If she didn't want to talk to him, she sure would talk to Sasuke. The dark-haired boy was still preoccupied with his lunch and was unlikely to show up anytime soon. He was unlikely to show up here at all, period. He took a deep breath and performed the Henge. He had a funny feeling in his stomach, but he wrote it off as anxiousness.

He walked up to Sakura. The girl started glowing when he neared her. Naruto briefly wished she looked at him that way.

"Hello, Sakura," he said, trying to sound as uncaring as he could.

"S-Sasuke-kun," the girl blushed. Her green eyes were full of hope. Naruto suppressed the urge to groan. Was that how their team was going to be? There were dead fangirlish excuses for kunoichi running around everywhere.

"Sakura, I have to talk to you about the team."

"Yes, Sasuke-kun," she beamed. "We're together. Isn't it wonderful?"

"It is." Sakura shone like a light. Naruto got a bad feeling in his stomach. Come to thing of it, the feeling in his stomach had been going progressively worse for some time. He had to admit it wasn't only anxiousness. But he had to finish this talk, then he could go. "And if you want to stay on the same team with me…"

"What do you mean," the pink-haired girl interrupted. "Of course I want to stay with you. I love you, Sasuke-kun."

"That's well," he nodded approvingly. "So if you want to stay on the same team with me, you'll have to do as I say." _Crap, I didn't mean it to sound that way._

"Of course I'll do anything you say, Sasuke-kun." Sakura's expression revealed she thought of being kissed. _That girl does have a one-track mind,_ thought Naruto. _And I have to finish it soon, I'm getting worse._

"Well. Later today…"

"We'll go on a date?" The pink-haired girl looked so hopeful he felt like a villain for crushing her expectations.

"No." Sakura looked utterly dejected, but he could find no sympathy for her in himself. His stomach was seriously aching now and the pink airhead was stalling him with her fangirlism. "What I meant to say was that after the jounin-sensei comes to pick us up…" _Crap,_ thought Naruto as his stomach rumbled. Screw the talking, he had to go pronto. "I'll tell you later," he said and ran towards the facilities.

He ended up staying too long there, all the time cursing the spoiled milk he had drunk for breakfast. Why couldn't he go hungry? If it makes them fail the test…

When he finally dared to leave the toilet, the break was almost over. Sasuke had finished his lunch in the meantime, Sakura had spotted him and trailed after him, making an utter fool of herself. He could only follow them into the classroom and wait for the jounin to come.

* * *

A.N.: So that's it. I hope I didn't write Sakura too bitchy. I didn't mean to be character-bashing, but I ended up doing it nevertheless.


	3. Chapter 3

**A.N.:** For everybody who asked so nicely, here comes another chapter. Regards to **from-silence **for story ideas.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto. I used some lines directly from the Naruto Manga.

**Through the Eyes of Death**

* * *

They had been waiting for hours now. All the other teams had left with their senseis, only theirs didn't show up yet. Even Iruka-sensei had gone home quite some time ago, so it was only the three of them and Sasuke's dead family now. They had made no secret about their displeasure with Naruto being on the same team as Sasuke and they had quickly driven the orange-clad boy into the furthest corner of the room form The Last Uchiha. The two living occupants of the classroom were ignoring him, Sasuke brooding, Sakura staring at Sasuke.

Naruto was getting jittery. He had to sit here, he couldn't get out because their tardy sensei could show up anytime, he couldn't talk to his teammates, because they didn't want to talk to him, he couldn't train inside the classroom, because he wasn't sure how much he can trust those two. Oh, and he really shouldn't break all the furniture as well. There was only one thing left to do and he wasn't sure whether pranking their new teacher was a good idea. He was nearly convinced it wasn't, but the boredom and the glares were slowly driving him out of his mind. It didn't take long for him to reach the stage when he couldn't restrain himself any longer.

He got up from his seat and looked around for things he could use. There wasn't much in the nearly empty classroom, only some chalk, one blackboard eraser and a pointer. There weren't even any papers in the teacher's desk, Iruka had taken them when he left.

"What are you doing, Naruto," Sakura asked in an accusing tone. The blond ignored her. He took the biggest chunk of chalk and inscribed something onto it with a senbon. Then he placed it over the door.

"That's what he gets for being late," the orange-clad boy answered.

"I'm not involved in this," the pink-haired girl declared, but Naruto noticed the glint of amusement in her eyes.

"Like a jounin would fall for such a stupid booby trap," Sasuke scoffed. His family was scowling at the demon vessel, but that was nothing new.

Then the door slowly opened and the chalk fell right onto the head of a masked man. The chalk promptly exploded and Naruto had to laugh at the look at the masked ninja's face. His expression was priceless even though only one eye was visible from his whole face. The only downside was that the chalk was almost invisible in his silver hair.

"_He got you good, Kakashi__,"_ snickered the ghost of a boy behind the silver-haired jounin. Naruto immediately took a liking to him. Then he recognized the fan symbol on his collar. _Another Uchiha? Oh no._ But those already present barely spared him a glance and it wasn't friendly. Just what was it with them?

"I'm sorry, sensei, I tried to stop him…" Sakura stammered. _Liar,_ Naruto thought. She was barely restraining herself from laughing at the sight of the ninja frantically trying to get the powder from his hair.

Sasuke looked even more brooding than ever. His family on the other hand was clearly furious. _"What is __he__ doing here." "How dare he!" "The thief! And the traitor!" "Death to the both of them!" Now that sounds like there is some interesting history there, _the blond mused. _I wonder what it could be._

"Hn, how to say this," Kakashi scratched his chin through his mask. A white smear appeared on the black cloth. "My first impression of you is… I don't like you guys."

"_What?"_ The Uchiha boy behind Kakashi shouted_. "They're wonderful! Just like we were! Or is that why you don't like them? If only sensei was here…"_

Sakura seemed downtrodden, Sasuke his usual broody self, the dead Uchiha clan was scowling fiercely than ever before.

"Meet me at the roof in five minutes," he ordered and disappeared in a swirl of leaves. _I wonder how long we'll have to wait for him this time,_ Naruto mused. _It's not like the trip up there takes any more than a minute._

As he walked up, another thought occurred in the blond's mind. _He's one-eyed and late. Could he be the same guy the dead kid was talking about? I hope not, because if he is, then we're in a world of trouble._

They had been sitting on the rooftop for only a quarter an hour when the silver-haired man finally decided to show up. His mask was pristine black.

"_Good work with the chalk,"_ the Uchiha kid following him told Naruto. _"He had to go home for a new mask."_ Naruto smiled at that. The dark-haired boy with goggles was startled. _"You can see me?"_ Naruto nodded slightly_. "Wonderful,"_ he shouted. The rest of Uchiha clan was watching disapprovingly. The boy stuck out his tongue on them, to the amusement of Naruto.

"Anything funny," Kakashi asked. The blond shook his head.

Sakura scowled at him. "Stop it, baka."

"Sorry, Sakura-chan." He flashed her his biggest grin. She scowled deeper. Some people were impossible to please.

"Well, now everyone is paying attention," the jounin started, "let's begin with introducing ourselves."

"What do you want to know," the only (living) girl here asked.

"How about your likes, dislikes, your dreams about the future and things like that," the one-eyed man replied unenthusiastically.

"Why don't you introduce yourself first," Naruto suggested.

"Yes," Sakura agreed. "You look kind of suspicious."

"_Yes,"_ the dead Uchiha boy shouted. _"So this is Hatake Kakashi. He is the biggest prick you'll ever meet. His hobbies are reading porn, failing students and let's not forget reading porn, his dream for the future is to get an even bigger stick up his rear."_ Naruto had to bit his tongue to prevent laughing aloud.

"Oh, me?" The masked man looked like it was the biggest bother ever. "My name is Hatake Kakashi."

"_Silliest name ever,"_ his companion commented.

"I have no desire to tell you my likes or dislikes."

"_You're still under eighteen,"_ the goggled boy added.

"Dreams for the future…hmmm…"

"_Still not a shred of imagination,"_ the boy sighed.

"And I have a lot of hobbies."

"_Like reading one book over and over again."_

"So all he told us is his name," Sakura scowled. _I don't understand how she was the smartest girl in class,_ _if she cannot deduce anything from this,_ Naruto mused. _Though compared to the rest of Sasuke's fanclub…_

"Now it's your turn," Kakashi said. "Let's start on the right."

"Yosh! My name is Uzumaki Naruto! What I like is cup ramen. What I like even more is when Iruka-sensei pays for my ramen. What I dislike is waiting three minutes for my ramen to cook. And my dream is to surpass the Hokage!" _You told us nothing about yourself so don't expect us to tell you anything in return,_ he thought. "Hobbies, pranks, I guess."

"I see," muttered Kakashi in a way that indicated he didn't see at all. Naruto was liking him less and less and he never liked him to begin with. "Next," the jounin commanded.

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. There are a lot of things I dislike and I don't really like anything."

"_Moron,"_ the goggled Uchiha boy commented.

"And… I can't really call it a dream, but I have an ambition. The resurrection of my clan and to kill a certain man."

"_As expected from my son,"_ Fugaku said_. "Kill the traitor, Sasuke."_ The rest of his clan nodded vigorously, only the one behind Kakashi looked troubled. Sakura looked at her idol with hearts in her eyes. Kakashi's expression was unreadable. Naruto didn't like it one bit. This was the first time he heard Sasuke say that and he was taken aback at the sense of dark purpose radiating from the boy. _I definitely have to do something about it,_ he decided.

"Oh. And lastly the girl," the jounin pointed at Sakura. _It sounds like he didn't even bother to learn our names beforehand,_ Naruto realized. _Did he decide to fail us the moment he was assigned to us? Well, looking at us I can't really fault him, but shouldn't he at least pretend to try?_

"My name is Haruno Sakura," the pink-haired girl started blushing. "The thing I like," her eyes flickered to Sasuke, "well the person I like is…" her blush deepened, "and, uhm, my dream for the future…" her face now competed with her dress. "Oh yea!"

"_Just like Rin,"_ grinned Kakashi's dead follower.

"What I dislike is Naruto!" _She didn't have to shout it,_ the blond thought_. _

"_I take it back,"_ the boy with goggles said. _"She's nothing like Rin."_

"My hobby is…" once more she looked at Sasuke and giggled. Kakashi rolled his single eye.

"Ok! So far for the introductions! Tomorrow we'll start our duty as shinobi."

"Yeah, duties, duties!" Naruto shouted, mostly to relieve the tense atmosphere. The attempt completely failed.

"First we are doing something only with the four of us," Kakashi announced.

"_Not that again!"_ His companion grabbed his head. _"Can't you skip it for once?"_ Kakashi didn't answer, being unable to hear him. Naruto was now genuinely interested and also a bit apprehensive. Was that the dreaded genin test?

"What is it, what is it," he shouted to relieve some of his anxiety.

"Survival training," the silver-haired jounin answered.

"_No! Anything but that,"_ the boy with goggles wailed.

"Survival training," Naruto asked.

"Why is our first duty training," Sakura added. "We had enough training at the Academy." _And it prevented you from chasing Sasuke more, didn't it,_ Naruto couldn't help but think.

"This isn't normal training," Kakashi explained. "This time I'm your opponent."

"_Can't you skip it for once?"_The dead Uchiha made a show of tearing out his hair.

"Then, then… What is it?" Naruto really wanted to know. Kakashi chuckled. The blond could easily detect the nasty undertones.

"What's so funny, sensei," Sakura asked.

"Uhm, well… it's just that… when I tell you this you guys are totally going to freak out." _Which is exactly what you want, you sadist,_ Naruto thought.

"Freak out," he asked aloud.

"_He freaked out when sensei told us,"_ his dead teammate revealed with a snicker.

"Of the twenty-seven graduates only nine will be chosen to become genin," Kakashi announced.

"_Liar,"_ the boy with goggles shouted.

"The rest will be sent back to the Academy. This training is a very difficult exam with a failure rate over sixty-six percent."

"_In Kakashi's rendition it's a hundred,"_ his companion commented. _So he really is the one who drove that poor kid to suicide,_ Naruto mused, _and he looks totally unrepentant._ Sakura looked startled, Sasuke brooded. His dead family was furious.

"_Don't you dare fail my son,"_ Fugaku snarled. Mikoto nodded in agreement, the expression in her eyes fiery. Kakashi was oblivious to them.

"I told you you'd freak out," he started laughing. _I really, really don't like him,_ Naruto decided. _Shouldn't I fail on purpose just to get out of this freaky team?_ Then Kakashi's dead teammate kicked the giggling jounin.

"_Cut it off,"_ he shouted. _"If only sensei could see you now, he would be ashamed!"_ Naruto decided that this team had its redeeming qualities.

"What? But we worked so hard. What's the point of graduating…" Naruto wanted to shout something else, but he restrained himself from calling his new sensei names.

"Oh that," Kakashi said lazily. "This was just to select those who have the chance to become genin." Everybody present, alive or dead, scowled at him. The silver-haired ninja was completely unperturbed.

"What?"

"Anyway, tomorrow you have to show your real skill on the training ground," Kakashi announced.

"_That's not true,"_ the ghost of the Uchiha boy disagreed.

"Bring all the shinobi tools you have. Oh, and skip breakfast, you'll might throw up."

"_You'll come__ hours late again,"_ his dead teammate pointed out.

"The details are on this paper. And don't be late tomorrow," the silver-haired man commanded.

"_Like it matters,"_ his companion snickered. _"You're going to be three hours late as usual. Honestly, Kakashi, even I wasn't that bad."_

"Might throw up," Sakura worried. "Is it really that tough?"

"_Tougher,"_ the boy with goggles replied.

Kakashi than handed each one of them a paper. The pink-haired girl studied hers like her life depended on it. Sasuke scanned his and then crumpled it.

"_My son will not fail,"_ Fugaku said. Naruto briefly wondered whether the last living Uchiha in Konoha could hear it.

"_Don't even bother reading it,"_ the dead Uchiha outcast advised Naruto. _"I'll tell you how to pass the test tomorrow."_ The orange-clad genin shot him a questioning look. The ghost nodded.

Kakashi disappeared in a swirl of leaves, Sasuke got up and walked away, his dead family and Sakura trailing behind him. Naruto remained on the roof alone only with his new friend.

"So what should we do tomorrow," he asked. "And why do you want to help us? And by the way, what's your name?"

"_Oh, I forgot. I'm Uchiha Obito from the great and famous Uchiha clan! Or it once used to be a great and famous clan,"_ he added downtrodden. _"And I want to help you because it would help Kakashi. He really needs to get a life, even if it means getting stuck with your jerks of teammates. And besides, it would be wonderful to finally have someone to talk to."_

"That it would," Naruto agreed. "But don't you mind Sasuke's entourage? I noticed they weren't looking at you too friendly."

"_Bah,"_ Obito shrugged_, "that doesn't bother me. They did it as long as we were alive, there's no reason for them to stop now that I'm dead. But enough about me for now. I'll tell you about the test quickly before I have to go haunt Kakashi again. That man really cannot be left alone, lest he does something stupid."_

Naruto laughed heartily. This ghost was enough to endure the rest of his team for.

* * *

Kakashi sat alone in his flat. He mused about the team he was assigned today. The Hokage really wanted him to pass them, he could tell that much. But truth be told, he wasn't impressed. It began when the Hokage took him to see Naruto's flat. He noticed the bottle of spoilt milk on the table. How can anyone actually drink this? Ten points down for lack of situational awareness. And when he saw him in person, dressed in an orange eyesore he probably thought passed off as jumpsuit, prattling on about ramen and ramen and more ramen, he couldn't see how the boy ever graduated.

Then there was the matter of The Last Uchiha. He was Obito's last surviving relative and Kakashi was tempted to pass him just for that, but when he saw him, he had to change his opinion. Sure, he seemed to be the most competent shinobi out of the three of them, the only competent at all, but his fixation on killing his brother was unhealthy, bordering on an obsessive disorder. Scratch it, it probably was an obsessive disorder. The child should be in a mental ward, not the field.

And the third member of the team – he shrugged when he recalled the only kunoichi among his students-to-be. The girl only thought about her love interest, completely forgetting about everything else. Even Rin wasn't as bad with her crush on him. Well, the crush maybe was, but at least she was a competent medic. Sakura didn't seem to have any redeeming quality. Girls like her usually didn't survive their first battle.

And let's not forget about the essence of every squad - teamwork. Better not even go there. For one teammember to openly admit to hate her teammate, that was unprecedented. They fully deserved to fail for this alone. Even he never did that to Obito, only berated him for his failings. Well, Obito would disagree, but Kakashi wouldn't hear him, so it didn't matter. Really, he would be doing them a service by failing them tomorrow. Such stupid punks wouldn't be able to survive in the field anyway.

He understood what the Hokage was trying to do – give him a squad that would resemble his old one. Well, it wasn't working. If anything, it made the situation even worse. They were a twisted caricature of what his team used to be and even looking at them hurt. Especially Naruto. His sensei gave his life and soul for Konoha, for creating a warrior to protect it, and his sacrifice was wasted on the orange idiot. It was disgusting. It was all he could do to restrain himself from kicking the annoying goofball there and then. The only thing that helped him accomplish the feat was the thought of what he would do to him tomorrow. Yep, One Thousand Years of Pain were definitely on tomorrow's schedule.

Then Obito entered the room, unnoticed by its other occupant.

"_Hey Kakashi," _he shouted in his face._ "You're going to pass them tomorrow, understand?"_ No reaction. Obito sighed. _"Are you brooding again? You know this isn't good for your health. You really should get a life." _Kakashi didn't hear him. The dead Uchiha scowled. _"You're ignoring me just like you always did. Typical. Waste your time remembering things long gone. You know what? I didn't die to save you just so you can waste your time away. Do you hear?" _He didn't. The boy with goggles sighed in exasperation. _"Brood all you want, Kakashi, but if you fail them tomorrow, I'm going to haunt you for the rest of your life!" _He conveniently forgot the fact that he was already doing it, to absolutely no avail.

Kakashi didn't react. He never did. That never stopped Obito for repeating the same speech every day. He was persistent and it wasn't like he had anything better to occupy his time with. Maybe once he could get through to his teammate. And if not him, than maybe someone else will. Maybe.

* * *

A.N.: This is what happens when the story runs away from the author. I originally wanted a dark story, but then Obito found his way in and it ended funny instead. But I'm not rewriting it.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's notes:** Thanks to everybody who read and reviewed this. So here's the next chapter so many of you asked so nicely for. It's amazing how this little side project of mine attracts attention faster than my main one. But no matter how much you'll plead, I'll still concentrate mainly on Little wooden men.

**Warning:** Sticks close to canon. Will anybody else complain about it after you have been warned? I promise I'll try to be more original in the next chapter.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto. I used some lines directly form the manga.

**Through the Eyes of Death**

* * *

The morning dawned bright and clear, when the three genin gathered on Training Grounds Seven. All of them were carrying large backpacks on their backs and all of them were yawning, Sasuke and Sakura from not being used to getting up so early in the morning, Naruto from being awake most of the night. After Obito had told him how their team did the test and how Kakashi administered the test to every one of his assigned teams, he spent the afternoon scouting the training grounds, thinking up possible strategies and setting up traps. It always paid off to be prepared and even if they should fail today, he was going to give their tardy sensei a run for his money.

He was only a bit disappointed that it didn't occur to his teammates to at least take a look at the training grounds beforehand. It wasn't like they slept through Iruka's lessons about always being prepared. Was Sakura too busy bothering Sasuke and Sasuke too busy avoiding her that they didn't have the time? Or was it because Sasuke was the awesome Uchiha and he didn't need to prepare in order to pass? It didn't really matter anymore.

Naruto glanced around and saw Kakashi's soul through the foliage, sitting near the Memorial Stone Obito had told him about. The ghost was there as well. When he saw Naruto, he glided over to him, much to the displeasure of Sasuke's dead entourage.

"_Hello,"_ he greeted. _"Are you ready for today?"_ Naruto nodded. _"Good,"_ Obito smiled. _"It's about time somebody showed up the jerk, isn't it?"_ Naruto nodded again. _"Say something, dude."_ Naruto just shot a glance at his teammates. Sakura shot a strange glance at him. Naruto stood up and started walking away. He wanted to talk to Obito in peace.

"Where are you going," shrieked Sakura. She was sleepy and hungry and all and all in a bad mood and Naruto gave her a perfect outlet for it.

"I'm just taking a walk, Sakura-chan," he explained.

"We are supposed to wait here, baka!"

"I'm not going far."

"Our sensei can show up any time," the pink-haired girl scowled.

"Aw, Sakura. He came three hours late yesterday and he couldn't even get to the roof on time. What makes you think he'll show up promptly today?" The kunoichi had no answer. Sasuke pretended he didn't hear them.

"_Go and don't come back, you demon and the traitor as well,"_ Fugaku snarled.

"_Go,"_ Mikoto added. Naruto obeyed. Nobody tried to stop him.

"So what do you want," he asked once they were out of sight (and hopefully earshot as well.)

"_Me want something?"_ Obito had a too innocent expression.

"Then why did you come?"

"_Can't I just come visit?"_

"You can, but you make me look like a lunatic, talking to thin air and all." He gestured towards his teammates. "They already think I'm an idiot."

"_Then let them,"_ the Uchiha suggested.

"That's easy for you to say," the blond scoffed. "You aren't stuck on a team with them."

"_Am I not?__ I can't leave Kakashi, remember."_

"Sucks for you."

"_Tell me about it," _Obito rolled his eyes.

"He's coming here," Naruto whispered. "We have to quit."

"_You're no fun,"_ Obito complained, but Naruto ignored him. He returned to his teammates. They eyed him strangely, but he had lots of experience ignoring it. After a while he noticed even Kakashi going away. He yawned and laid down to catch on lost sleep.

"What are you doing, baka," Sakura scolded him.

"Sleeping," the blond replied. "That is until you woke me up."

"I can't understand how you can sleep at a time like that," the pinkette huffed.

"Easily," he explained. "I lay down and close my eyes."

"Baka," she scowled. "Our sensei can show up anytime."

"I don't think so." He could see Kakashi once again staring at the memorial stone out of the corner of his eye. He snuggled down comfortably and closed his eyes once more. Sakura huffed, but didn't bother him anymore. He promptly fell asleep.

* * *

Kakashi was staring at the Memorial Stone. For one time, he wasn't reminiscing about the past, but about the three genin currently waiting for him. They would call him tardy and lazy, but he had actually a good reason for not coming on time today. It was a part of his test.

_You would wee__p, if you could see them, sensei,_ he thought. _They're pathetic, nothing like we were. Sure Rin had a crush on me the size of Hokage monument, but even she had nothing on Sakura. And Sasuke. He's so cold and obsessed. I know I was bad but surely not like that. And Naruto. He's a joke. What is he even thinking, talking to thin air? Is he insane or what? How can somebody like him have anything to do with you? It hurts just to look at him. It feels like you died in vain._

_And their teamwork, or rather lack of. It got even worse since yesterday. I gave them time to learn to work together, to make a strategy, and what did they do? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Sasuke's brooding and probably plotting ways to kill Itachi, Sakura is fawning over him and Naruto is sleeping. And they call themselves shinobi? I don't know whether to laugh or cry. Never mind. I'm going to fail them and then I won't have to hear about them anymore. The Council can go screw themselves for all I care, in fact it would be hilarious watch them pop a vein or two. You would love it too, wouldn't you? I know how much you disliked dealing with them._

"_Hey, Kakashi," _Obito called. _"Don't you think you left them waiting long enough?" _The jounin didn't answer. He obviously didn't thing it was long enough. Obito sighed. This was going to be a long and boring wait.

* * *

"_Naruto! Hey! Naruto! Wake Up!" _The shouting and a feeling of cold were what woke the blond up. Obito was kneeling above him, trying to shake him and failing, since he had no physical body.

"I'm awake," he mumbled. Sakura looked at him strangely.

"_Good,"_ Obito said. _"Kakashi's coming your way."_ There was no need to say it. Naruto could already see for himself. Then the silver-haired jounin appeared in front of them.

"Hey guys, good morning," he shouted.

"You're late," Sakura and Naruto shrieked in unison. Kakashi didn't even acknowledge their outburst.

"_No excuse,"_ Obito raised an eyebrow. _"You're slipping, Kakashi."_

The man in question ignored even that and put an alarm clock on a nearby log. Naruto smiled inwardly. So far everything went like Obito had told him.

"OK, it's set for noon," the masked man announced. Then he showed them two bells tied with strings. "Here are two bells, he said like they couldn't see them for themselves. "Your task is to take these from me before the time's up. Those who don't have bell by noon get no lunch. I'll not only tie you to one of those stumps, but I'll eat my lunch right in front of you."

_It's official_, Naruto thought, _he is a sadist._ Sasuke's and Sakura's stomachs rumbled. Naruto had done as Obito told him and ate his breakfast.

"You only have to get one bell," Kakashi continued. "There are only two, so one of you would be definitely tied to the stump. And the person who doesn't get a bell fails, so at least one of you will be sent to the Academy." _Most likely all three,_ Kakashi thought.

"_Liar! Liar! Liar!"_ Obito chanted. His dead clansmen scowled.

"_My son won't fail,"_ Fugaku said. Mikoto nodded in approval.

"If you want, you can use shuriken and kunai," the jounin offered. "You won't succeed unless you come at me intending to kill."

"But, you'll be in danger," Sakura stammered. _And she seemed so clever at the Academy,_ Naruto thought ruefully. _What does she think a bunch of fresh genin can do to a seasoned jounin?_

"Yeah, you're so slow you can't even dodge a chalk," he couldn't help but remind him. "We'll definitely kill you!" _The traps I've set beforehand should help a lot._

"In the real word, those with no talent often bark the loudest," Kakashi said in a tone reserved for the slowest of children. _So far so good,_ Naruto thought. _He's already underestimating me._

"_You're in for a surprise," _Obito shouted, but his warning fell on deaf ears.

"Well, ignore mister deadlast and start when I say."

Naruto scowled while inwardly he was laughing with glee. So far Kakashi had been reacting just as he expected. Time for the next part for the plan. He put on a furious expression. He didn't even have to pretend. The one-eyed man was seriously pissing him off. He withdrew a kunai and jumped straight at Kakashi. And exactly as he expected the jounin blocked his attack and twisted his arm around, so that the kunai was now pointing at his own neck. Naruto wriggled, trying to get free, but the silver-haired man held him steady.

"Calm down. I haven't said start yet." Sakura was watching it in disbelief. _Geez, you would think she never heard about jounin before,_ Naruto thought. Sasuke on the other hand finally looked genuinely interested in something.

"_Why so harsh, man,"_ Obito shouted.

"_Just kill the demon__ already,"_ Fugaku advised.

"Well, you seem finally prepared to come at me with the intent to kill," Kakashi said with amusement. "So you've finally acknowledged me? Hehe, it seems like I'm finally beginning to like you guys." He sounded utterly insincere.

"_Come on, Kakashi,"_ Obito prodded_. "Aren't they adorable?"_

Kakashi finally released his captive. Naruto scowled, massaging his wrist. Inwardly he was doing a victorious jig. Mission accomplished, the tag was safely in the place. Now he only had to wait for the right moment to activate it.

"Begin!" Kakashi shouted. The three genin scattered.

* * *

Kakashi stood alone in the middle of the field. He couldn't see any of his students, but that didn't mean he didn't know where they were. He was a jounin for a reason while they were still genin.

"The most important thing for a shinobi is to be able to hide yourself," he said. _Nice, they're hidden well,_ he thought. Then an orange eyesore appeared right in front of him. He closed his eye in exasperation. _Sensei… is that even possible? He's a complete idiot._

"Come here and fight me," Naruto shouted at the top of his lungs. It made Kakashi wince. "I said fight me," the blond repeated.

"Uhm, you're a little bit off," Kakashi replied.

"_No, you are,"_ Obito corrected.

"The only thing that's a bit off is your haircut," the orange-clad genin called running towards Kakashi. The jounin reached into his pocket. The genin slowed his approach, watching him warily.

"Shinobi fighting lesson number one – taijutsu," Kakashi said in the talking-to-an-idiot voice.

"_Tell me you aren't going to do that,"_ Obito whined. _"Please no, please no…"_ Kakashi took out a small orange book. _"Oh no!" _Obito clutched his head._ "Do you have to read it all the time? Get a life finally, why don't you, man?!"_

"What's wrong," Kakashi taunted. "Hurry up and attack me!"

"But, hey, what's with the book?"

"_He's a pervert,"_ Obito explained. _"Pervert! Pervert! Pervert! Pervert! Pervert!"_

"I just want to know what happens next," the silver-haired man answered.

"_Oh man! You've read it only about a hundred times!"_

"But don't worry, it won't make a difference against you, guys," the open pervert added. Naruto just about had it. Kakashi was going down, painfully.

"I'll totally kick your ass!" He attacked Kakashi. The jounin blocked without effort, his attention seemingly concentrated on the book. This went on for a minute until Kakashi got bored with it and with great speed appeared behind Naruto.

"A shinobi isn't supposed to get caught from behind, baka," he said, folding his hands into a seal, still holding the book between his palms.

"_Not that,"_ Obito wailed. _"Anything but that!"_

"Naruto, run away, you're going to get killed," Sakura shrieked. _Maybe there is hope for us,_ Naruto thought.

"To late," Kakashi announced gleefully. He slammed his fingers into Naruto's butt. "Hidden Leaf Ancient Taijutsu Style: One Thousand Years of Pain!"

_This actually has a name,_ Naruto wondered before his clone dispersed and he was hit with very painful memories. _Ouch! How comes this isn't a kinjutsu? There must be some law prohibiting doing that to children._

Kakashi was surprised. _I was fighting a clone all the time? I didn't even notice. But where is the real one?_

"_He got you, He got you,"_ Obito danced around.

Naruto in his hiding spot smiled. He had gathered a lot of information about Kakashi's fighting style and he discovered that Sakura might be willing to cooperate after all. Things were looking up. Then Sasuke decided to attack.

* * *

It seemed like the perfect opportunity. Kakashi was distracted, puzzling over what Naruto had just done. He launched multiple shuriken at him. Kakashi batted them away without even looking. A set of kunai came after that and this time the jounin was hit. Or so Sasuke thought, because the next moment he turned into a log.

_Kawarimi? Crap. He now knows where I am._He quickly jumped from his hiding position, but it did him little good. Kakashi appeared right in front of him, the infernal book in his hands.

"So, the village's most powerful clan, the Uchiha clan. This could be interesting," he drawled lazily. Sasuke's only response were thrown shuriken. "Such obvious attacks are useless," Kakashi taunted. That was when he noticed one of the projectiles cutting a wire. _A trap? _A number of kunai sailed towards him. He evaded without trouble. The Sasuke jumped at him and engaged him in close combat.

* * *

Naruto was running through the woods. He could see Sakura's soul in front of him clearly. It didn't take him long to reach the girl.

"Sakura-chan," He whispered.

"What do you want, baka?"

"Do you want to pass?"

"Of course!"

"Then we have to cooperate."

"Cooperate with you?" She scowled. "I won't let Sasuke fail."

"You won't. Whole squad either passes or fails."

"What? But Kakashi sensei said…"

"And you believed him. He is testing our will to stick together by pitting us against each other."

"And I'm supposed to believe that, baka? You're just trying to separate me from Sasuke-kun, so you'll have me all for yourself."

"That's not true, Sakura-chan."

"Liar!" She hit him on the head.

"This way you're going to fail and be separated form Sasuke for sure. Hey, are you hungry? I brought some food." He showed her a box of onigiri. Sakura's stomach rumbled loudly.

"You brought food? But Kakashi-sensei said…"

"And once again you believed him. He lied once, why can't you believe he lied again?"

"But he's our sensei!"

"And he's testing us. Eat up. Your brain is going to work better with some fuel." She punched him again. "I take it as thank you." He rubbed his sore head. Then he was assaulted by memories from a dispelled clone.

"Kakashi just got Sasuke," he announced.

"What," Sakura startled. "How do you know?"

Naruto ran through the memories in his head. The Uchiha had put up quite a fight, but to no avail. Kakashi was too good for him. And in the end… what had possessed him to stand so long on one spot? Wasn't he supposed to be a genius? He should know better than that.

"Now I know you are a liar," the pink-haired girl scoffed. "Get lost, I don't want to do anything with you." She stood up and ran off.

Naruto sighed. This wasn't going well. He created a Kage Bunshin to follow Sakura and went to find Sasuke, but he didn't have much hope in the Uchiha listening to him.

* * *

Sakura was racing through the trees. She had to find Sasuke-kun quickly. She couldn't believe Naruto when he said that Sasuke was already defeated, but there was always doubt. What if something really happened to Sasuke-kun?

Then she saw Kakashi standing in front of her, reading his book like he didn't have a care in the world. _He didn't notice me,_ he thought.

"Sakura behind you." She turned startled. Kakashi-sensei was now standing directly behind her, his hands forming the Rat seal. Leaves swirled around, obscuring her vision. When they cleared, Kakashi was nowhere to be seen.

_What was that? What's going on__? Where's sensei,_ she thought frantically.

"Sakura!" _That voice! _

"Sasuke-kun!" _He's calling for me, kyaah!_ Inner Sakura was dancing with glee. She ran where she heard the voice from.

There was Sasuke leaning to a tree trunk, kunai and shuriken protruding from him, blood flowing freely from his wounds, his leg twisted at an unnatural angle.

"Sasuke-kun…" she whispered. She couldn't believe it. So Naruto was right after all. "AAAAAH!" She screamed and fainted.

"That might have been a bit too much," Kakashi muttered not even lifting his eye from his book.


	5. Chapter 5

**A. N. :** So here comes another chapter. There is more originality than in the previous one, though some parts are still keeping close to the manga. I promise that the next chapter (which is written completely and would be posted next week) is completely original (well, besides the obligatory Kakashi comes late scene).

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto.

**Through the Eyes of Death**

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Naruto scowled. Sakura had refused to work with him and now she was out. And she fell for a genjutsu, of all things. Wasn't she supposed to be good with them?

And Sasuke claimed he didn't want anything to do with him even though he was stuck up to his neck in the ground. His dead clansmen were standing around, talking about how this was undignified and shameful for an Uchiha and Fugaku kept repeating that his son wouldn't let himself be captured like that. Sasuke was scowling furiously and insisted that he didn't need Naruto's help, to the approval of the rest of his clan. Naruto's suspicion that he was aware of them was strengthened.

He left a Shadow Clone with Sasuke in case the boy changed his opinion. He now had no choice than try and get the bells by himself. It went against the spirit of the test, but he might be able to salvage the result by donating them to his teammates. He looked at the sky. Noon was nearing rapidly and his time was running out. He had to hurry.

Finding Kakashi was no problem. He was still near where Sakura lay, flipping through his book lazily. It wasn't good position to launch his plan. He'd have to lure the jounin closer to the river first. He made several clones and sent them to their positions. Then he stood at the clearing where he had fought the silver-haired man before.

"Hey, Kakashi," he shouted. "Are you up for a rematch?"

Kakashi sighed. _Was that even possible? Didn't the kid ever learn anything? But wait, the last time it was a clone. What was this one? Was Naruto planning something? It would be better to be careful. But he was only a genin. What could he possibly do?_

He walked slowly towards the orange-clad boy, book still in his hand, his eye seemingly fixed on it, but his attention was elsewhere. He suspected a trap waiting for him somewhere, but he was confident he could avoid whatever the genin had prepared for him.

"Say, Naruto," he drawled lazily, "what makes you think you'll fare better now that you did before?"

"_You'll see!" _Obito grinned. _It's really something! You're going to like it. Well, maybe not you but I certainly will."_

"Why don't you come and see for yourself," his loud student taunted. _So it's really a trap, _Kakashi thought. _I wonder what it is. Probably nothing too dangerous, but what if it damaged my precious book? Nah, that would be showing him I take him seriously. _He walked with the book still opened in front of his face. Maybe it was thanks to this that he missed Naruto's victorious smile.

"_You're going to get it," _his dead Uchiha teammate shouted into his ear, which had absolutely no effect on the masked man.

Naruto waited until the silver-haired man almost reached him before springing into action. He jumped forward and threw a violent kick at Kakashi, which the jounin batted away lazily. But in the next moment he realized he was surrounded by dozens of Naruto's. _How did they appear so suddenly? He had no time to perform the technique. _He decided it didn't really matter. What mattered was that he wasn't able to block all their attacks with one hand preoccupied. One of the clones came dangerously close to getting the bells. He escaped via a quick Kawarimi and moved to put his book back into his pouch. That was when he realized he didn't have it anymore.

"_Loser! Loser!" _Obito singsonged dancing around.

Kakashi was worried. Where was his book? Did he accidentally drop it while fighting the Kage Bunshin? His questions were soon answered by a loud shout.

"Hey!" The one-eyed man looked to where did the voice come from. He saw a Naruto standing in the river, holding his prized possession right above the surface. _Oh no, _thought Kakashi. _One wrong movement and he drops it into the water! _The thought was enough to make him hyperventilate.

"I have your precious," the orange brat boasted. "I'll return it to you for your bells! Oh, and try something and I'll throw it into the river." It sounded like a fair trade, but the genin had made a grievous miscalculation. He had touched Kakashi's pride and love. Such action couldn't go unpunished.

Meanwhile the blond was feeling quite pleased with himself. He had successfully lured his sensei into an area littered with transformed Shadow Clones, one of them had managed to successfully switch himself with Kakashi's book when the jounin loosened his grip on it and yet another had grabbed the Icha-Icha Paradise and exchanged himself with a clone standing in the river, on a place surrounded with traps. Now he held Kakashi's prized possession hostage. From what Obito had told him, the one-eyed pervert would do anything to get it back.

Kakashi reined his racing heart under control. He couldn't afford to do anything that would endanger his precious. He tried to play it cool.

"And why should I care," he shouted as disinterestedly as he managed. "I could buy another one anytime."

"I suppose you might," the jinchuuriki admitted, "but it wouldn't have the author's autograph with a personal dedication."

_How__ did he notice it so soon? _Kakashi sweated.

"_He owned you," _His dead teammate gloated. _"Admit it and give him the bells. You must know you lost."_

Kakashi refused to admit he had lost. Not to a genin. His reputation as an elite jounin of Konohagakure was at stake. If his peers ever got wind he got bested by the village's idiot, he would never hear the end of it. He was going to show that little upstart his place. But the situation was dire and he had to approach it with utmost caution. That was why he did something he would never admit to doing when facing somebody below Kage level. He reached to his headband and uncovered his left eye.

"_So you like my present," _Obito squealed. _"But aren't you ashamed of yourself, using it now?" _The living man, quite predictably, didn't respond. He opened his left eye. The red pupil with three spinning tomoe was revealed.

"_I can see!" _Obito rejoiced. _"I can see!"_

The only Sharingan user in Konoha surveyed the terrain around the Naruto holding his love prisoner. Several clones were standing guard around him and bright spots randomly scattered around indicated places with high chakra concentration. _Some kind of traps, _he mused. _I wish I knew what exactly those are. Too bad I can't see through things, now it would come handy. Never mind. If I know where they are, I can avoid them. _With that thought he covered his Sharingan again.

"_I can't see," _Obito wailed clutching at his eyes. _"I can't see. It's bad."_

Kakashi silently moved from his position. He had gathered enough information about the enemy, now was the time to act. A brief analysis of Naruto's defense was enough to show a glaring weakness: It was concentrated on the ground. He didn't see anything that would protect him from an attack coming from underwater. With his experience, the elite jounin really should have known that not seeing something didn't mean it wasn't there.

He reached the river not far from the genin's position, but he was hidden by a turn in the river. He quietly slipped underwater. It was cold and he couldn't see more than an arm's length ahead, but he was used to worse. He stealthily swam towards where Naruto stood. He oriented himself by his chakra signature. It was impossible to miss.

He was almost there. Only a couple more strokes and he'd be in position to attack. He'd save his precious and he'd show that little twit why he shouldn't have messed with him. Then his hand his a ninja wire, completely invisible in the murky water, and he realized he was out of time. He jumped forward, or at least tried to. His feet found no purchase on the muddy bottom and he slipped. He could only listen in terror as a loud splash announced his precious falling into the water. Desperation lent him speed. He reached the drowning book in an eyeblink and jumped with it out of the water. He noticed Naruto's clones appearing around him, but he paid them no mind. One quick Kawarimi got him out of their reach.

"_You poor dear," _Obito cooed. _"You almost lost your book! Oh, woe to you."_

He seated himself in a tree and examined the mess that became of his precious. He realized it wasn't as bad as he originally thought. The orange book was dripping wet, but it wasn't thoroughly soaked. It wasn't in the water long enough for that. The damage would be minimal if he dried it carefully. But the mere fact that there was any damage infuriated him to no end. He plotted the most creatively painful ways to kill the culprit until the alarm rang.

_So late already? _He looked at the sun. It indeed was noon. _Well, at least the decision who to tie up is easy today._

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Naruto was fuming. He came the closest to the bells, at least in his opinion, and yet he ended tied to the stump. _Why wasn't it Sakura? She's the one who did nothing. That's so unfair, _he seethed. _But it's also nothing new. _It made him seethe even more.

"_Hey, you were amazing," _Obito reassured him. _"He actually used my eye!" _The blond had no idea what was it supposed to mean, but he couldn't ask. _"He doesn't do it unless he fights really kickass ninja!"_

Kakashi stood in front of the three genin, what little was visible of his face completely unreadable. He thought over their performance in the test. Sakura had proven herself completely useless, exactly as he had expected. Sasuke showed more battle prowess that he gave him credit for, but even he didn't show anything particularly surprising. Only Naruto managed to do that. He realized he had to completely change his opinion of the boy. He obviously had some ability and he was smart enough to use it. Once his rage over the stolen and dunked Icha-Icha died down, he had to admit that the boy was actually quite good. _Maybe he isn't a disgrace to Sensei's name._ _I wonder why Academy records said the opposite. _

But what was the most important thing: they showed absolutely no hint of teamwork. Even now they were staring ahead, not interacting with each other except for Sakura's admiring glances for Sasuke. No matter how good their individual performance was, it they refused to work with each other, he couldn't possibly pass them. But maybe, just maybe, he might give them another chance.

"Well," he started lazily, "There's no need for you to go back to the Academy."

Sakura perked up. She looked like an adorable puppy. Did she really believe she passed? Minus points for her. Sasuke barely acknowledged it. He looked like he considered his success a given.

"_Not that again," _Obito yelled.

Naruto sighed. Kakashi wondered what that could mean.

"All three of you should quit as shinobi," he finished and let it sink.

"_Outrageous!" _Fugaku shouted. _"You can't fail my son, thief!"_

"_The Uchiha are better than you," _Mikoto agreed with a nasty sneer on her pretty face.

"_I said not that again," _the goggled dead Uchiha whined.

Sakura looked like somebody just kicked her puppy. Sasuke glared daggers. Naruto looked like he expected it. _Most intriguing, _the jounin thought.

"Q-quit as ninjas?" Sakura stammered. "W-why?" She was at the verge of tears. She couldn't be separated from her Sasuke-kun. _We won't be, _Inner-Sakura assured her.

"Because all of you are just punks who don't deserve to be ninja," he elaborated. Predictably Sasuke attacked him. Kakashi moved swiftly, throwing The Last Uchiha to the ground, kneeling on his back and twisting his arm, demonstrating the difference between a seasoned jounin and a fresh genin.

"_How dare you treat my son like that, you trash," _the dead Uchiha clan head shouted.

"_Yeah, man, you're harsh," _Obito agreed.

"That's why you're a punk," the jounin stated.

"Don't step on Sasuke-kun!" Sakura screeched. Naruto winced. The volume was unbelievable.

"_Wow, she sure can scream," _the goggled ghost commented.

Kakashi ignored the disturbance and spoke seriously. "Are you guys underestimating ninja? Huh? Why do you think you were divided into teams and doing this training?"

"Huh?" The pink-haired girl blinked. "What does that mean?"

"That means," Naruto started, "that we are supposed to be a team. Can't you figure it out yourself?"

"Shut up, baka," she shouted. "Nobody asked you."

"On the contrary, Sakura," the silver-haired man interrupted. She looked at him befuddled. "I asked every one of you. Naruto already gave his answer. Can you do the same?"

"We-we were divided into teams, because… because we are supposed to be a team?" She looked at their sensei questioningly. She was unsure of her answer, but she couldn't come up with anything better.

"And what about Sasuke," Kakashi looked down on his captive. "What say you?"

"_Come on, Sasuke-kun," _Obito mocked Sakura's fangirlish tendencies. _"You're so clever and smart, you can get it in no time!" _Behind him Fugaku kept demanding Kakashi released his son. Naruto had to bite his tongue. The dead Uchiha were hilarious.

Whatever the living Uchiha said was muffled by the dirt he was currently biting. Judging from his tone it was probably unpublishable.

"No answer? Well," the masked man shrugged, "it's your loss. As your teammates almost guessed, the answer is teamwork."

"B-but," the pinkette started meekly, but then found her courage. "What do you mean, teamwork, there are only two bells!"

"_So you noticed?" _Obito snickered.

"Even if we work together, one of us will still fail!" The pink-haired girl was enraged. "What teamwork? That just makes us fight each other."

"Of course!" Kakashi shouted. "The test is purposefully set up to make you fight among yourselves!"

"_Nasty!"_ His teammate kicked him. Sakura looked puzzled. Naruto simply watched him with interest. That in turn interested the jounin. He had never seen such reaction before.

"The purpose is to see whether you can forget about your own interests and work together," he explained.

"_A true Uchiha serves no one, needs no one," _Fugaku stated. Mikoto nodded in agreement.

"Yet you guys," he shook his silver head and sighed. "Sakura, you were only worrying about Sasuke. I know that Naruto approached you, but you left. Why?" He didn't give her time to answer. "Sasuke! You just assumed the others would go into your way and tried to do everything by yourself."

"_My son can do everything by himself.__ It's expected from my son." _It was certain now. Sasuke could hear them, at least a bit.

"Naruto. You were running around by yourself. And what was that stunt supposed to mean? You were told to get the bells, not my book."

"You said we could use anything," the blond replied. "There was no rule about blackmail. I simply targeted something you didn't guard as closely as the bells. And teamwork requires willing teammates and I sorely lack those."

"How dare you!" Sakura shouted punching him.

"You see what I mean?" Naruto looked at Kakashi. And the jounin could see. It appeared that at least one of his genin had understood. But one was too little. He needed at least another one to get it before he would pass them.

"Who would have thought," he tilted his head. "The dead-last understands something the Rookie of the Year and the smartest kunoichi just don't get. It makes me really wonder about the Academy standards."

_You're not the only one, _thought Naruto. Sakura was scandalized, Sasuke furious. The dead Uchiha clan was scowling.

"Individual play that disrupts the team can put your comrades in danger," the sensei pointed out.

"_Like it matters," _Fugaku said. _"They're not Uchiha."_

"And even get you killed," Kakashi finished seriously. "For example: Sakura, kill Naruto or Sasuke dies!" For a moment, he feared she might actually obey.

"What?" she shouted, her eyes darting between her two teammates.

"You see? If a hostage is taken, you will have tough choices and then die."

"_Like we had a tough choice," _Obito said sadly. It was completely out of character for him. Naruto yearned to drag the story from him.

"You will be risking your lives during your duties. Look at this," he pointed at the Memorial. "The numerous names carved in this stone."

"_My name!"_

"These are ninja who are recognized as heroes of the village. But they aren't just normal heroes. They are the heroes who died while on duty. This is a memorial. My best friend's name is already carved here."

"_Some friends we were," _Obito muttered sarcastically.

Kakashi looked over his shoulders to the three genin. "You, guys, I'll give you one more chance. But after lunch, I'll make it even tougher to get the bells. Those who still wish to challenge can eat lunch. But don't give any to Naruto."

"_Meanie! Meanie! You're such a Meanie!"_

"It's punishment for stealing my book."

"Hey! That wasn't against the rules," Naruto protested, but the jounin's glare silenced any further defense.

"I am the rules here. Got it?"

"_You're a meanie."_

Kakashi finally released Sasuke and disappeared. The Uchiha slowly picked himself up from the ground.

"_This is another test," _Obito hinted before chasing after Kakashi.

"You don't have to give me any food," the blond said. "I'm fine."

"Like we'd want to," Sakura muttered between bites.

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Teamwork," he whispered. Sakura scowled. Sasuke looked thoughtful, though with him it was always hard to tell.

"_My son will not fail," _Uchiha Fugaku stated for who-knows-what time today.

Then Naruto's stomach rumbled. Sasuke sighed. He handed the remainder of his lunch to his bound teammate.

"Here," he said.

"_Don't feed the monster,"_ his father shouted.

Sakura stared at him wide-eyed. "Hey, Sasuke-kun, sensei just said…" _Another lie, _Sasuke wanted to say, but couldn't. He suspected the jounin was listening on them. He had to make it look like he actually cared about Naruto more than his career, when in reality he only figured this was another trick test.

"Don't worry," he tried to placate the kunoichi, "I don't sense him nearby." _Because he's well hidden. _"After lunch, we'll work together to get the bells. Without food, he'd just be in the way." Sakura looked at him thoughtful and then decided to follow her idol's lead. Maybe it would make him fall in love with her… _Che, he'll be all ours, _Inner-Sakura boasted. _Shannaro!_

Then Kakashi appeared in front of them in a swirl of leaves. The three genin startled.

"You three…" he made a dramatic pause, "PASS!"


	6. Chapter 6

**A.N.: **For those who complained, here finally comes a completely original chapter (maybe except one scene).

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto.

**Through the Eyes of Death**

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It was the first day of training after Team 7 passed Kakashi's test. Their sensei had told them to meet them at the same training grounds at eight. It was now a quarter past ten and he was nowhere to be seen.

"Where is he," Sakura fumed.

"Probably wherever he was yesterday and the day before that," Naruto answered.

"_Irresponsible. And preposterous. Treating an Uchiha like that," _Fugaku sneered.

"_He shouldn't be teaching my boy," _Mikoto agreed. _"Sasuke deserves better." _The only living Uchiha present seemed to agree wholeheartedly.

_Everybody deserves better, _Naruto thought. _What have we done to deserve this? But then again, maybe the other instructors are even worse in their own way._

He cut his musings short. He had other, more pressing concerns on his mind. Namely what to do about Sasuke's dead family. The more he watched them together, the more he was convinced that his teammate could indeed hear them. Either that or he had exactly the same thought process, which was a possibility as well.

He had tried to help the brooding boy before, but failed. He had tried to speak to him directly back then and he refused to respond. Maybe he should deal with his ghostly entourage now? But how? The dead Uchiha despised him even more than the living one. Maybe Obito could help? But the rest of his clan didn't hold him in high esteem either. And that didn't solve the problem of how should he talk to them without being catered off to the mental ward.

Before he could come up with a solution, there was a swirl of leaves and Kakashi appeared in front of them. His little orange book was thankfully absent. _He's probably scared it would get destroyed._

"YOU'RE LATE!" Naruto and Sakura shouted in unison and then looked at each other in surprise.

"A black cat crossed my path and I had to take the long way," Kakashi explained.

"_That's my line, you thief," _Obito shouted. _"Can't you come up with your own excuse?" _Naruto was hard-pressed not to laugh.

"_Disgusting," _Fugaku commented.

"LIAR!" Naruto and Sakura shouted once again. Sasuke slightly winced at their combined volume.

"_Ruffians," _the dead Uchiha clan head snorted. _"Unworthy to associate with my son."_

"Anyway," the one-eyed man said completely undisturbed, "now that everybody's here, let's start training."

"Yay! Training!" Naruto exclaimed happily. If he had to wait any longer, it would have driven him crazy.

"_Ruffian," _Fugaku repeated.

"That's some enthusiasm," Kakashi remarked. "If you're so eager, let's get started. The three of you, run a hundred laps around the training grounds at top speed and don't use chakra to aid you."

"What?" Sakura looked horrified. That was considerably more then she was used to running.

"I said one hundred laps, do you have trouble hearing? No? Now go." The three genin obeyed and ran. The jounin took out his book and started reading. He had plenty of time to finish the chapter.

Naruto and Sasuke took it as a challenge. They tried to outdo each other. At first Sasuke was faster, but after about forty laps his stamina began to run out and Naruto, who didn't slow down the whole time, began gaining on him again. The Last Uchiha couldn't allow himself to be bested by the dead-last and drew on his reserves, cheered on by his deceased clan. It lasted him another thirty laps. Then he slowed down again. Naruto kept a steady pace the entire race. He caught up with the dark-haired boy during lap ninety-four.

"Why so slow, teme," he shouted. The Rookie of the Year grunted and pushed the last dregs of his endurance into his legs. It got him through exactly four laps. During round ninety-nine he began falling behind and in the last lap Naruto gained a fair lead on him.

"Yay! I won!" He shouted dancing around.

"_You won, great!" _Obito congratulated him. Sasuke dropped down and panted heavily. His family scowled.

"_Unacceptable," _his father said. _"My son shouldn't have lost to the monster."_ Even Mikoto frowned.

Sakura was at lap seventy-two. Kakashi sighed. There was much work to be done if she seriously wanted to be a kunoichi, though he had some doubts about it.

Finally even the pink-haired girl finished and promptly collapsed. The open pervert closed his book with a slap.

"Well, now you finished the warm-up, we can start with the actual training," he announced nonchalantly. Sakura nearly panicked, but was too winded to do it properly. "Let's start with some light sparring," he ordered. "Sasuke, Naruto, you two are first." The two boys obediently moved to the middle of the clearing. "Taijutsu only for now. Begin."

The Uchiha wasted no time in tackling his opponent. The blond blocked his violent punch, but winced under the force of the impact. The dark-haired boy gave him no time to recuperate and followed with a roundhouse kick. The orange-clad boy jumped back to avoid it. The class prodigy was on him again before he could blink. He was furious about his loss in the run and he wanted to get back at the other genin for it. The fight was pretty one-sided. Sasuke was called the genius for a reason and Naruto's taijutsu was merely mediocre, thanks to his lack of actual practice. He lasted as long as he did only due to his resilience, endurance and high pain tolerance.

The Last Uchiha was getting more and more furious. How comes he couldn't defeat the class idiot? He had hit him numerous times, but the dobe just kept bouncing back. No matter how many times he pushed him to the ground, he always got up. He barely heard Sakura asking their sensei why he didn't call the match. Kakashi answered her that in real life there was no 'calling the match,' you fought until the end. That was right. He would fight until the end. He would stomp the dead-last to the ground until he wouldn't be able to dig himself out.

He attacked with more power than before. Unfortunately for him, he overreached and when the foxy boy narrowly dodged his fist, he found himself completely open to a counterattack. He didn't realize this until Naruto's fist in his ribs sent him flying backwards. He roared in pain and anger. How dare he strike him? He jumped to his feet and ran at the short blond. The boy had hard time blocking even few of his punches. He tried to form a counterattack, but Sasuke didn't let him. Soon he forced Naruto on his back and then stomped on him with all his might.

"There you have it, dobe," he sneered.

"_As expected from my son," _Fugaku praised him.

"_Good work, Sasuke," _Mikoto smiled gently.

"_You're so mean!" _Obito chastised him. _"What had he done to you?"_

Naruto only spat out blood.

Kakashi frowned. This was bad. A healthy competition between teammates improved their individual performance, but what he witnessed today went far beyond that. He would have to do something about it or the team wouldn't be able to function.

"The match is over," he called. "Sasuke won. Now Sakura, you'll spar against Sasuke."

The pink-haired girl looked unsure of herself. She never doubted she would lose, but she was scared her idol might beat on her like he beat on Naruto. _That baka deserved it, _Inner-Sakura supplied, but it wasn't enough to convince her. She reluctantly took her place facing her crush.

"Begin," the silver-haired man ordered. The fight was quick. The young Avenger attacked without preamble and the fangirl made a few half-hearted attempts at defense. She ended on the ground within a minute.

"Sasuke won," the jounin declared. Inside he was frowning. The girl proved herself completely useless. There was one last chance for her. "Now Sakura fights Naruto." The last Uchiha strolled away and Naruto resumed his position in the middle of the clearing. He seemed completely unbothered by the beating the Rookie of the Year had inflicted on him.

"Begin." Sakura immediately attacked. Naruto blocked her without much trouble. She attacked with more strength, with the same result. That frustrated her. She tried a kick, but the blond evaded. This had gone on for several minutes until the pinkette started to tire. Her movement became more and more sluggish. This was when her opponent went on offensive. The fight was over in moments, with the kunoichi down on the ground.

"Winner Naruto," the masked man announced. "Your performance was pretty pathetic overall."

"_How dare you," _Fugaku growled. Sasuke scowled. Sakura looked sheepish. Naruto watched him attentively.

"Sakura, you know the standard Academy taijutsu well, but you have little strength and stamina. Naruto, your forms are a mess. You can't count on outlasting every opponent, they would kill you before you have the chance to do so. Sasuke. You might be the best in terms of ability, but you let your pride rule you. That is exactly the kind of thing that would get you and your team killed." He made a pause to let his words sink.

"Next thing we'll be practicing your teamwork." He took a bell from his pouch and fastened it to his belt. "Well, you know the drill. You have five minutes to form a strategy. Then begin." He shunshined away and covertly watched what his team would do.

"So how do we do it, Sasuke–kun," Sakura sucked up to her crush.

"You just don't get in the way," the Uchiha suggested. She looked like he just slapped her.

"_That's right," _Fugaku agreed. _"You're just a clanless excuse for a kunoichi."_

"Hey, we're supposed to be practicing teamwork," Naruto reminded them.

"Fine," the dark-haired boy scoffed. "Sakura can be bait then."

It took nearly two minutes of insults before they got to actually discussing strategy. What they agreed on in the end was half-baked at best. It started with Naruto's horde of Kage Bunshin attempting to herd Kakashi to where Sasuke and Sakura prepared traps where the Uchiha would try to force the jounin into an unfavorable position from where the girl would snatch the bell. It failed right at the beginning. The silver-haired man outright refused to be herded anywhere, instead performing Kawarimi with Naruto's clones, making them hit each other. Even when the blond caught up on his trick, he couldn't make the older man go the direction he wanted him to. Sasuke came out of hiding to fight the jounin without the aid of pre-prepared traps and failed promptly. Sakura didn't even come close to Kakashi. Needles to say, they didn't even touch the bell.

"Do I even have to tell you how you did or can you figure out for yourselves," he said sternly.

"_Not well," _Obito commented. The rest of his clan looked disappointed.

The three genin stared at the ground. "Well, it's late now, so you have an hour for a lunch break. In the afternoon, we'll go for a mission."

"Yay! Mission!" Naruto rejoiced. Even Sakura perked up and Sasuke was interested. Kakashi allowed himself a small smile. He wondered how long would their enthusiasm last once they knew the joy of D-ranks.

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Kakashi was currently wondering whatever had possessed him to pass this team. How did he ever mistake whatever they did during the bell test for teamwork? It sure looked that way, but it must have been something else. What they were doing now had nothing in common with any kind of cooperation. After the disaster that was the morning training, he decided to take his team on a mission. They got a simple D-rank (what else) – to paint a fence. What could possibly go wrong with it? A lot of things, obviously.

First came the moment the mission objective was announced to them. They were obviously under some delusion that they would be sent on a higher-ranking mission right out of the Academy. When Naruto heard what they were supposed to do, he shouted "What?!" at the top of his lungs. Did he think it was beneath him? (He actually thought _I'm going to ruin my best jumpsuit,_ but his sensei had no way of knowing that.) Sakura shouted "Shut up, baka," and punched him over the head, which made the foxy boy make puppy-eyes on her, but she herself looked scandalized. Sasuke only brooded a bit more intensively than usual.

When they reached the site, they found out that the client wanted his fence painted a horrendous shade of yellowish-green, that clashed horribly with Sakura's dress so she nearly refused to come anywhere near it. Naruto declared that the color was great, dipping his brush in the bucket and starting painting enthusiastically, sending little droplets of the paint flying towards his teammates. Kakashi suspected he did it on purpose. Sakura punched him for it, making him loose hold on his brush. The tool flew through the air, hitting the lower hem of her dress. An irregular green splotch appeared just below the white circle adorning the red garment. She stared at it in horror. One would have thought that she had no other clothes.

"Naruto!" She screeched. "That was my best dress!"

_Why did you take it on a mission then, _he thought, but what he said was:"Sorry, Sakura-chan." The blond looked sheepish. It had no effect on the enraged harpy. She pummeled him to the ground, pounding on him, trying to beat him within an inch of his life. They tipped the bucket in the process, splashing the both of them with liberal amount of the paint. They had to buy a new one, lest they didn't have enough paint for the fence. Sakura whined that she had to go home and change her clothes, because she couldn't walk around the town in her current ones, but Kakashi forbade it, saying how on long missions you couldn't go home and change your dress, you had to do with whatever you had. Oh, and it was a punishment for fighting. Sakura claimed it was all Naruto's fault, but the jounin disagreed. And he explained her in no uncertain manner he was the one in charge here when she tried to argue.

So they went around the town still dripping wet paint, Naruto displaying it proudly like the latest fashion, Sakura trying to become invisible. Unsuccessfully. Her experience in genjutsu didn't reach that far.

"Why don't you use Henge, Sakura-chan," the blond suggested.

"Baka," she shouted and moved to punch him before realizing it was actually a good idea. Still, it was humiliating to take advice from the class dobe, but the thought of meeting somebody she knew like that, namely Ino, made her swallow her pride. A couple of handseals later none of the spots could be seen.

They bought the bucket of paint without further incident and headed back to the fence. By that time Sakura was breathing heavily. The morning training had winded her and it was now painfully obvious that she had the lowest stamina out of the team. Yet she refused to drop the technique, for what would she do if somebody she knew passed by? Kakashi had to order her to quit it before she fainted with chakra exhaustion.

By that time Sakura was too tired to stand upright and all the work fell to her teammates. With the delay they made due to the fight, it became dubious whether they could finish the job in time. Naruto wanted to use Kage Bunshin, but their sensei forbade him, claiming he needed to learn to work on his own and not over relaying on one technique. The boy pouted, but started working with gusto. Sasuke merely grunted, picked his brush and methodically put the paint on the fence. Sakura cooed at how amazing it was. Naruto took that as a challenge and started painting furiously, trying to make Sakura admit he was doing it better. Sasuke, who couldn't allow himself to be bested by anyone, painted faster as well.

Thanks to their competition, they managed to finish the mission in time, though barely. There was green paint everywhere, ground, plants and the team. Nobody was spared. They headed to the Hokage Tower to report success. Sakura didn't have enough chakra to perform a Henge anymore, so everybody could see her in her red and green glory. Sakura's face was as crimson as her dress. They picked up their mission pay, just enough to cover the cost for the extra paint, and Kakashi called it the day. The three genin ran to their homes as fast as they could. Even Sakura didn't have the energy to pursue Sasuke.

The jounin sighted. Yes, no sense of teamwork at all. And because he had passed them, it now fell upon him to instill it in their thick heads. He wasn't looking forward to it.


	7. Chapter 7

**A.N.:** Finally another chapter! Next one should come soon.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto.

**Through the Eyes of Death**

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When Kakashi failed to show up before a quarter past eight the next day, Naruto came to the conclusion that he was going to be hours late again. He got up from his spot and started walking to the other end of the training grounds.

"Where are you going, baka," Sakura scolded him. "Sensei might be here anytime." Naruto shot her a dubious glance.

"Do you seriously believe that? Besides, I'm not going anywhere far away, I'll be just over there. I figured if we have to be here several hours earlier than him every day, I could as well get some training in." _And I don't want to be so close to Sasuke's dead family, _he added mentally. _They're driving me crazy._

"You'll be tired when he comes," the kunoichi replied.

"I know my limits, thank you very much, Sakura. But you should work on them, unless you enjoy lying on the ground completely exhausted like yesterday," he advised.

"Naruto!" She shouted. _'Kill him!' _Inner Sakura suggested.

"What?" He raised an eyebrow. "Are you going to accuse me of taking my career seriously, unlike a certain somebody we both know?"

"Don't insult Sasuke-kun!" The pinkette looked scandalized. _'How dare he? He's so going to die!' _her alter ego supplied her opinion.

"I wasn't speaking of him, Sakura-chan." He left the pink-haired girl to puzzle out for herself who he was talking about and started training. He wasn't practicing any jutsu, only the basic strength, speed and endurance enhancing routines. He was still at it when Kakashi decided to grace them with his presence. The jounin appeared startled for an instant.

"Hn, that's strange," the silver-haired man commented. He looked between his three genin and then focused on Sakura and Sasuke. "Are you two sure you are the Rookie of the Year and the smartest kunoichi?"

"_How dare you!" _Fugaku shouted. Sasuke's permanent scowl deepened.

"What do you mean, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked befuddled.

"It's just that the supposed class idiot is behaving smarter that you," he clarified.

"_Don't insult my son, you trash."_ The dead clan head looked ready to murder him.

Sakura looked puzzled. Sasuke huffed.

"Even if he trains he's still a dobe."

"And he would be tired for the real training," the kunoichi added.

"A good ninja shouldn't tire so easily, Sakura," Kakashi corrected her. "And Sasuke, don't badmouth your teammate. If you are true ninja and not just some punks playing at being shinobi, you should be training with him."

"Hn."

"_My son isn't a punk, you thief! He's an Avenger!"_

"Anyway," Kakashi continued unfazed, "now everybody is present, we can begin training."

"_You forg__ot an excuse," _Obito reminded him, but it fell on deaf ears.

"Sasuke, Sakura, run a hundred laps around the training grounds to warm up. Naruto, we'll be working on straightening the mess you call taijutsu."

"Why doesn't he have to run," the pinkette asked scandalized.

"Why is HE getting special treatment?" The Last Uchiha was scandalized as well. Special treatment should be reserved for him. He needed it. He was an avenger. Couldn't Kakashi see it?

"Because he was clever enough to warm up before training," the jounin explained. "And you two shouldn't waste any more time."

"He's still a dobe," Sasuke scoffed before running off.

"Teme," Naruto shouted after his retreating back.

"Baka," yelled Sakura before chasing after her Sasuke-kun.

Naruto found the private lesson with Kakashi very educational. The Academy instructors had never shown him so much in so little time. Then Sasuke and Sakura finished running and it was time for team spars. Sasuke tried to pound Naruto into the ground again, but the blond was holding his own better than yesterday. In the end he lost anyway. Sakura then predictably barely touched both of her teammates. Then followed the dreaded teamwork exercise. Their new strategy was slightly better than their last one, but they failed to obtain the bell anyway. In the afternoon they took another D-rank mission. It thankfully included no paint and they fared better than yesterday.

The next day Naruto didn't even wait if Kakashi would come in time and started training right off the bat. After a round of warm-ups he created several clones and took taijutsu spars against them. Sasuke decided it was a good idea and wandered to the opposite site of the training grounds and practiced his taijutsu kata. Sakura cooed on him and prattled about his awesomeness. The Last Uchiha ignored her pointedly. When their tardy sensei finally arrived, he sent only the kunoichi running, much to her horror. He had the boys spar against each other and then corrected the mistakes in their forms. As soon as the pinkette finished, he made her spar against her teammates. She was barely able to move due to exhaustion, so the fights ended almost before they began.

The third day Sakura finally caught on and even she started training, though she made sure she looked good for Sasuke. Kakashi didn't send any of them running, instead working with them right from the beginning. Naruto wasn't sure, but it looked like the man was smiling behind his mask.

In the following weeks, they fell into a routine. In the early mornings the three genin trained individually, practicing strength, speed, kata, chakra control or ninjutsu, depending on whatever they felt they needed. Then Kakashi came and they were sparring, practicing teamwork, polishing their forms and sometimes even learning new moves. Afternoons were reserved for D-rank missions. After three weeks they managed to touch the bell for the first time and four days later Sasuke actually snatched it.

"You're wonderful, Sasuke-kun," Sakura cheered.

"We did it!" Naruto laughed. Even Sasuke cracked a smile.

"_As expected from my son," _Fugaku said.

"_Good work, Sasuke," _Mikoto smiled.

"_Good job everyone," _Obito congratulated them.

"You're getting better, kids," Kakashi smiled, "but don't think you're good already."

"_Uchihas are elite," _Fugaku pointed out.

"_Stuffed-up prick,"_ Obito stuck his tongue at him. The Clan head scowled, which had no effect on the outcast.

"But you're now good enough to learn some of the more advanced stuff. Tomorrow I'll teach every one of you a jutsu," he promised.

"Yay!" Naruto punched the air. Sakura laughed and even Sasuke actually smiled.

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Kakashi was worried about his team. It was true that they improved greatly. Sakura's stamina and chakra reserves grew, though she was still far behind her teammates. Naruto's taijutsu improved dramatically. During his numerous spars with his Kage Bunshin he realized he retained some of his clones' memories. He then used it to test various moves. It dramatically shortened the time needed to get the right form. The muscle memory he had to train with his real body. Sasuke's abilities improved as well, though it wasn't as dramatic as with his teammates. That was something that angered him to no end, so he started secretly practicing another jutsu from his clan's repertoire during the evenings. He wasn't finished yet.

But this was where the positives ended. Even though they finally took their careers seriously, even though their teamwork had improved with every drill and every mission, they were only going through the motions. There were no real bonds forming between his students. In every session, Sasuke would try to beat Naruto into a bloody pulp without fail. The blond looked like he didn't mind, but Kakashi could only wonder how long was that going to last. Nobody could take such abuse indefinitely without effect and the silver-haired man could only wonder when he would finally snap. He was sure that when it happened, it wouldn't be pretty.

That brought him to the next matter on his mind. What was he supposed to teach them? Nothing too destructive, that was one matter he was certain about. The boys were prone to use it against each other and he didn't want them to cause any permanent damage. Sakura was easy. The girl still had low stamina, but very good chakra control, so it would be a genjutsu for her. He wasn't an expert on those, but he knew several useful ones. He didn't have to think long to decide on which would be the best for her.

Then he thought about Naruto. The blond already had one powerful technique in his repertoire, the Kage Bunshin. He needed something he could use in conclusion with it, some short-range melee jutsu that could be activated quickly. Too bad he didn't know what his elemental affinity was. It would have narrowed his search considerably. Ah, well, he'd get to it later.

Then there was Sasuke. Not only he couldn't give him anything too destructive, he had to show him something powerful enough to catch his interest. If The Last Uchiha thought he was being overlooked, it would destroy what little team dynamics they had. Once again he mused on whatever had possessed him to pass this particular team. If they won't improve soon, he would have to do something drastic, like taking them on a mission somewhere faraway and 'forgetting' them there. He sighed wistfully. Too bad he wouldn't get away with something like that.

He shook his head. He had no time for idle musings. He had a job to do. He got back to considering what jutsu he should teach the boys.

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The next morning Team 7 awaited Kakashi's arrival eagerly. They were all training diligently, but only half of their minds were in it.

Because their sensei had promised to teach them a jutsu, Naruto was refining his chakra control. He had first heard about tree-walking a long time ago, but it took him nearly as long to figure it out. The first few exploding trees had deterred him from trying again for quite a while. But now he was walking up and down the trees with little trouble. He only made sure none of his teammates could see him. He even positioned clones as lookouts.

That brought his mind to a less cheerful topic, namely his team. His attempts to improve their relationships had ended in vain, usually before they could begin in earnest. He still didn't find an opportunity to talk to the dead Uchiha clan. Sasuke was trying to kill him every spar, obviously enraged that the dobe was improving faster than him, even if he was still below his level of proficiency. Sakura at least was beginning to resemble a kunoichi. That made her less likely to die on their first mission, which made him glad. Worse was that she didn't warm up to him one bit, hating him for making her Sasuke-kun unhappy. He had tried to initiate some team-bonding activities with her, but she was always chasing after Sasuke. He considered it a success when she didn't punch him. That said a lot about how screwed their team was.

He sighed. He would have to do something soon, but no matter how hard he wracked his brain, he couldn't come up with anything that might actually work.

Then finally Kakashi-sensei appeared. The three genin ran to him eagerly.

"Sorry I'm late, an old lady needed my help carrying her bags home and she kept forgetting when she was living. We have walked through all of Konoha before she remembered."

"_That's my line!" _Obito screamed at the top of his lungs.

"_Disgraceful," _Fugaku sneered and Mikoto nodded in agreement. It was the comfortable routine of every morning.

"So now everybody's here, we can begin." He withdrew three scrolls from his pouch and threw each of them to one genin. "Read them thoroughly and ask me if there is something you cannot understand." Then he sat down and buried his nose in Icha-Icha Paradise. That was another thing that never changed.

"_Get a girl finally," _Obito advised, but just as every other time it was unheeded.

Naruto sighed and opened his scroll. He read the name at the top: _**Te Oshi no Jutsu**_, the Pushing Hand. It didn't sound like much, but he wasn't one to judge a book by its cover. He unrolled the scroll and started reading.

He had to admit that this technique really sounded interesting. It gathered chakra into one's palm and then pushed it forward in a strong pulse. It could be used to enhance the damage done with punches. When used properly, it could give the illusion that the user was much physically stronger than he really was. There was a warning that it took up a lot of chakra, but that wasn't a problem for him. What was worse, it required good control to do any damage, otherwise it was only a huge waste of energy. Well, he'll just have to train a lot.

Sakura studied her scroll intently. _**Yochi Rinban**_, the World's Turn, the name tag said. A genjutsu. She was always good with those. _This genjutsu makes the target see everything at a different angle, as if he was facing another direction than he really is. A skilled user of this technique can control the angle of the shift. The user must be careful not to make the change too big, otherwise the illusion would be easily recognized, because it cannot make the target see something outside his field of vision. If cast while the target is moving, he might not notice he's under the technique._

_This is quite a limitation on its usefulness, _thought the kunoichi, _but it is still useful to confuse the enemy. _She proceeded to study the details.

Sasuke opened his scroll with impatience. Finally he was going to learn something powerful. A step closer towards avenging his clan. He opened the scroll and read: _**Katon:**__**Ryuuka no Jutsu**_ - Dragon Fire Technique. _This jutsu uses wires to guide a torrent of flames alongside them. If the user manages to bind the target with ninja wire, this attack is deadly._ Deadly? Sasuke liked that.

Fugaku was reading over his son's shoulder. _"The nerve of him," _he scoffed _"Doesn't he know Katon jutsu are the Uchiha's domain? We have a library full of them. And this one as well."_

"_True, my dear,"_ Mikoto added.

A thought suddenly entered Sasuke's mind. Didn't he see this jutsu scroll before? He wasn't sure, but he couldn't rule it out. There were many scrolls in his clan's library. He didn't remember what they all were about. He'd have to check it out.

"Any questions?" Kakashi asked after all three genin read through their respective scrolls. Sakura had some technical question and the jounin answered it to the best of his knowledge.

"If there's nothing else, let's practice."

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The next day Sasuke appeared in a foul mood. He had searched his family library and it didn't take him long to find the scroll with Ryuuka no Jutsu there. He wasn't pleased that Kakashi gave him a scroll he already owned. But he had to admit that the one-eyed jounin couldn't possibly know what jutsu the Uchiha clan possessed. But Fire techniques were their specialty. He should have known it. Everybody should know it. He didn't say anything. He had to admit Kakashi was trying. He was going to give him the chance.

The training progressed much like it did before. The individual abilities of Team 7 improved and they were integrated into their teamwork. Kakashi tested it again with the bell. He now had to actually pay attention to the three genin now.

Otherwise there was nothing to be proud of. Naruto tried addressing Fugaku once, but the dead clan head got offended and shouted at him. His teammates were looking at him strangely, much to the delight of Obito. Kakashi's deceased teammate was snickering at him about 'talking to ghosts' for days after the incident. Naruto decided to put off further attempts until a better opportunity arose. Unfortunately he had no idea how said better opportunity should look like.

The bond among the genin weren't strengthening as well. Sakura didn't lash at Naruto so often, but otherwise she didn't warm to him a bit. Sasuke brooded as ever. Sakura still worshipped the ground he walked on, but didn't do it 24/7 anymore. Her training was slowly shaping her into a competent kunoichi and her confidence rose, though only a little.

Kakashi frowned behind his orange book. He was worrying about his team too much. He couldn't even enjoy Icha-Icha paradise properly anymore. That simply wasn't tolerable. He had to do something about it. But what? Take them on a C-rank? A boring mission would accomplish nothing. And should they encounter an enemy, how would his genin react? Would they be the well-oiled machine they were during training or would they fall apart entirely? There was only one way how to find out, but the silver-haired jounin was reluctant to pursue it. What if the answer was no? Would he be able to face the consequences? No matter how much the brats grated on his nerves, he didn't want either of them to die. So what should he do?

He procrastinated. He didn't have to decide now. He could hope that the matter would resolve itself. But that would take a miracle. Kakashi didn't believe in them. But he tried to hope anyway.


	8. Chapter 8

A.N.: So here comes another chapter. Finally what so many readers have been waiting for.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto.

**Through the Eyes of Death**

_._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._

The forest was ominously silent. Even the wildlife was quiet, feeling the presence of shinobi sneaking around.

"What's the distance to the target?" The voice was so quiet that it barely carried over the hustling of the leaves in the mild breeze.

"Five meters," a whispered response came. "I'm ready anytime."

"So am I."

"Me too." Three equally quiet voices signaled the team's readiness.

The squad leader nodded silently. "OK. Go!" Three trained killers sprung into action. The target registered the slight rustle of dry grass under one of the attackers' sandals. He sprang forward. He ran into a tree. What was it doing there? He was convinced it was further to the right. He must have turned during his jump. It didn't matter. He climbed the trunk with haste. He noticed one of his pursuers climbing after him. He had to get out of there quickly. He spotted a convenient branch. He could use it to get on another tree. His hunters couldn't follow him.

He jumped. Then, to his horror, he realized that the branch wasn't there. He shrieked, his limbs flailing wildly, trying to find purchase on anything. The ground was approaching rapidly. One of his attackers appeared below him. This was bad, but not hopeless yet. The attacker's arm shot forward, trying to grab him from the air. He slashed at it. He missed, only tearing through his sleeve. How? Than he suddenly felt a hand grab him.

"Got you!" his captor shouted victoriously. The captive screeched.

"_Poor kitty!" _Obito screamed. Sasuke was smiling victoriously, holding Tora by the scruff of its neck.

"Way to go, Sasuke-kun," Sakura squealed.

"_As expected from my son," _Fugaku commented.

"_Good job, Sasuke," _Mikoto smiled. Then Tora squirmed furiously. Its claws swung dangerously close to Sasuke's eyes. The Uchiha screamed and threw it away reflexively.

"_Run kitty!" _Obito cheered on it. Tora, freed from Sakura's genjutsu, took the advice and ran like its tail was on fire.

"Why did you drop it?" Naruto shouted frustrated.

"_That fleabag!" _Fugaku screamed. _"Trying to gouge an Uchiha's eyes!"_

"_My poor Sasuke,"_ Mikoto cooed.

"I'll get you!" The Last Uchiha screamed and took of after their prey. Naruto jumped from the tree and ran after him. Sakura followed. Kakashi took out his orange book. This was going to be one of those days, he just knew it.

Sasuke sprinted after the escapee. It was far too fast to be just a cat, but he was a trained ninja. He had no trouble closing the distance between them. He was going to show that filthy blob of fur.

"_How dare that dirty animal attack an Uchiha!"_ Fugaku was always quick to offer his opinion.

The dark-haired genin reached into his pouch for a shuriken with attached ninja wire. He threw it expertly. The projectile flew around the escaping cat, tying it into the wire.

"Got you," Sasuke smirked. Tora tried to wiggle free, but the wire held tight.

"_That teaches it to attack an Uchiha!"_ Fugaku's grin was positively evil.

"_Well done, son,__"_ Mikoto beamed.

"_Poor kitty!"_ Obito wailed. _"Have you ever heard about animal cruelty?"_

Sasuke watched as Tora frantically struggled to get free. _The prey is captured in the ninja wire. Just like is required for the Ryuuka no Jutsu._ Sasuke imagined the vile creature being consumed by red hot flames.

"So you got it!" Naruto's voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Hn," he replied noncommittally. Was he really barely a moment ago thinking about murdering a cat? It was just a stupid animal. He tried to imagine Itachi in Tora's position. Now that was a much sweeter thought.

The orange-clad genin picked the cat from the ground.

"Ah!" he screamed. Tora took the first opportunity to sink its claws into his skin. But the blond refused to let go. He squeezed it a bit harder. "Stop this now!" he commanded. Tora disobeyed. Or more likely it didn't even understand.

"_Poor kitty!"_ Obito scolded. _"Are you trying to squash it or what?"_

"_Crush it!" _Fugaku suggested.

"Dobe," Sasuke smirked.

"Teme!" Naruto replied. He wasn't speaking exclusively to Sasuke, but the only living Uchiha around didn't know it.

"Great work, Sasuke-kun," Sakura cooed as soon as she reached them.

"Good job team," Kakashi commended them, suddenly appearing next to them, not even raising his eyes from his book. "Now go and report mission success."

They headed for the Hokage tower.

_._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._

The Mission Room wasn't too busy at this time of day. Most missions had been assigned earlier and only few shinobi came asking for them now. They reported the mission success and handed the still fighting Tora to its owner. It wasn't a minute too soon. Not only Naruto's clothes got torn, but Obito kept snickering about his misfortune the whole time and even the rest of the Uchiha clan wore quite pleased sneers while looking at him. It was slowly but surely driving him mad.

They watched as Lady Shijimi squeezed the cat with all her might, prattling about how she had missed it, completely oblivious about the animal's obvious pain.

"_Poor kitty!" _Obito wailed for the umpteenth time that day. _"They should execute her for torturing her pets! They should forbid her form ever owning an animal again! They should fine her until she has no money left!"_

"_Serves it right, trying to gauge an Uchiha's eyes,"_ Fugaku sneered. Mikoto looked torn. She liked cats but she liked her baby more. Sasuke watched the spectacle with a satisfied smirk. That would teach the fleabag.

The Hokage picked up a scroll marked 'D.'

"_The chores called D-rank missions are demeaning to and Uchiha!"_the former clan head shouted his outrage. He did it every time a D-rank was assigned to them.

"_My precious Sasuke can do better," _his wife agreed.

"_More D-ranks, please!" _Obito squealed. _"I want to see your awesome Sasuke get dirty again! Maybe he'll get his face full of paint this time."_

"_Shut up you traitor!"_ Obito didn't even think of obeying. He suggested several more misfortunes that could befall the last scion of the once mighty and noble Uchiha clan.

"_How dare you wish this on my baby!"_ Mikoto looked ready to attack him.

"_Baby?" _Obito disagreed. _"A brat! A spoiled brat! That's what he is!"_

"_Quiet, you disgrace!" _Fugaku snarled and launched himself at Obito, who was a tad bit slow to react. The two ghosts bore into each other, trying to tear their spiritual bodies apart. It was slow going, with neither of them possessing any substance.

"No!" Naruto shouted. He couldn't watch it anymore. He felt himself getting nuts. The dead Uchiha paid him no attention. Their ghostly bodies were still locked in combat. The living people in the room were different. They were giving him none too friendly glares. Oh no, he had spoken aloud. What did he say that was so bad? Ah, he had interrupted the Hokage talking. What about? Probably assigning them another crappy mission, Naruto wasn't sure. The Old Man's voice was completely drowned out by the Uchiha's argument and subsequent fight.

Now how to salvage the situation? He couldn't admit he was distracted by a bunch of angry ghosts shouting at each other and trying o rip each others throats. But what else could he be complaining about? Ah, the mission.

"No!" he shouted again. "No, thank you! I want to do, you know, a more incredible mission! Find us a better one!" It was completely true. He wanted some change in his life. The current routine of Team 7 was threatening to rob him of his sanity, or what was still left of it. Sakura glared at him and looked like she wanted to hit him, but the presence of the Hokage stopped her. Kakashi sighed exasperatedly. Sasuke seemed to perk up a tiny bit.

"_Yes! You old Fart! Give my son a better mission! He can handle it!"_Fugaku seemed to really hate the Hokage. Naruto couldn't figure why.

"_My baby can do it, you'll see!" _Mikoto added in a proud mother tone.

"_Yay! A C-rank! A C-rank!"_ Obito danced and hopped around. Seeing the dead Uchiha agree on anything was simply unnatural. It freaked Naruto out.

"You idiot!" Iruka sprang to his feet from his position beside the Hokage. "You are just a rookie! Everyone starts off with the simple duties and works their way up!" _Geez, Iruka-sensei, thanks for the vote of confidence, _Naruto grimaced._ I would have thought that you finally got that I'm not really the class idiot._

"_My son isn't just some rookie!"_ The Uchiha clan head looked outraged.

"_My Sasuke is good enough!"_

"_Hey! We are awesome!"_

"But we keep getting the crappiest possible duties!" Naruto protested. _And if they aren't crappy, we make them so._

"Be quiet!" Kakashi slammed Naruto on the head. The blond rubbed the sore spot and sent a hurt glance towards his teacher. _First Sakura and now you too? What am I? A punching bag?_

"_Serves you right, demon," _Fugaku sneered.

"_Why so harsh, Kakashi?__"_ Obito scolded._ "Don't you want to get out of Konoha as well?"_

"Naruto!" Sarutobi shouted sternly. "It seems I have to explain to you what those duties are about!"

"I know it!" the orange-clad genin protested, but he was ignored completely. Again. He had to suffer through the Professor's boring lecture anyway. _Do they all really think I'm that stupid? I have to admit, I didn't act like a genius today, but still._

"_Serves you right, dobe," _Fugaku smirked.

"_Not another lecture," _Obito wailed. Naruto sighed. Retaining his sanity was becoming harder and harder with each passing day.

Kakashi was thoughtful. He realized he might have been a bit too harsh on Naruto earlier, but he wasn't going to apologize. A teacher had to maintain his authority. He realized that going on a C-rank mission might not be a bad idea after all. He had considered it earlier, but always postponed asking for it, until Naruto did it for him. Going over their latest performance in the teamwork exercise, he admitted they might be able to handle a fight now.

Finally the Hokage finished his speech. The dead Uchiha clansmen were making derogatory comments about the Hokage bothering their Sasuke with such elementary trivia, while Obito was trying to make the speech funny, but failing horribly. Naruto tried to tune them out, thinking about ramen flavors instead. That's why he missed when the Hokage stopped speaking.

After the obligatory lesson about paying attention when the Hokage is speaking, much to the delight of the present ghosts, Naruto tried to tell them he wasn't the dobe everybody thought he was. He shouldn't have even bothered. He just got scolded again. But then he noticed the Hokage smiling.

"OK," Sarutobi spoke. Everybody looked at him in disbelief. "If you want it that much, I'll give you a C-rank mission." A break from their routine? Great! Naruto nearly started dancing.

"_Finally you acknowledge my son's skills," _Fugaku grumbled.

"_You can do it, Sasuke, but be careful," _Mikoto smiled.

"_We're going on a trip!"_

"_Missions aren't trips, you disgrace."_ Naruto's earlier elation dissolved like snow in summer. He realized that the spirit Uchiha clan would be going with them.

"It's a protection of a certain individual," the Hokage continued. _Why don't I like the sound of this?_

"Who is it?" he inquired. He tried to sound professional for a chance, despite his suspicion that it was a wasted effort.

"_Yes! Who?__" _Obito looked like a puppy with a bone. _"A princess? A daimyo? An actress?"_

"_Disgrace. Shameful."_ Fugaku's sneer seemed to be permanently etched into his face.

"Will you come in here?" The Hokage addressed somebody in the next room. The door slowly slid open. First a sake bottle appeared, then a tanned calloused hand holding it.

"What is this?" A slurring voice asked. "They are all a bunch of super brats."

"_How dare you insult an Uchiha?"_

"_Filthy old drunkard."_

"_Take this, Kakashi!" _Obito snickered. _"You are an super brat! He saw through you in one! Super brat! Super brat!"_

Their mysterious client entered the room whole. It was an elderly man with a wiry frame, who despite his age retained his health. And despite his drinking too.

"Especially," he slurred, "the shortest one with the super stupid looking face." His eyes bore straight into Naruto. "Are you really a ninja? Hey!"

"_Yes," _Fugaku smirked mockingly. _"Are you really a ninja?"_ There was only so many insults Naruto could take in one day. A kunai appeared in his hand within an instant and he sent it hurling in the direction of their client. The blade hit the bottle in his hand, shattering it, and embedded itself deep into the wall behind it.

"I'd say I am a ninja," he spoke in a 'don't mess with me or else' tone.

"Naruto-baka!" Sakura smacked him over the head. "Don't kill our client!"

"_Trash,"_ Fugaku commented. _"He doesn't know the first thing about proper behavior."_ He didn't specify who he was talking about.

"I wasn't aiming to kill," he replied. She scowled. Their client only stared at the remains of his booze supply, now slowly dripping on the floor. He shook off his shock quickly. He leaned forward, trying to look important and intimidating. His obviously inebriated state wasn't helping any.

"I am the super expert bridge builder Tazuna," he introduced himself.

"_You look more like super-expert sake drinker to me," _Obito snickered.

"_Who ever heard of you?" _Fugaku scoffed.

"I expect you to provide me super protection until I get to my country and complete the bridge!"

"_You hired an Uchiha! Of course we are good!"_

"_Dude, you picked the wrong team,"_ Obito commented. _"Poor you."_

Next came the necessary briefing about where they were going and when were they leaving. Naruto listened with only one ear. His eyes were seemingly focused at an empty patch of air just behind Tazuna's shoulder. A ghost was standing there. A ghost the bridge builder brought. The man was only staring ahead, not saying anything. He didn't seem like the kind that would respond to him, but he looked like a new one to Naruto. The blond couldn't be sure, but he usually could guess pretty well how long a spirit was dead. And if there was a fresh ghost following Tazuna, it probably meant there was something sinister going on. They will have to be extra careful.

-._.-._.-._.-._.-._.-._.-._.-._.-

The first day of their mission passed uneventfully. That is if you don't count Kakashi being late (though only by a quarter an hour), Sakura screaming at him and the dead Uchiha clan running endless monologues about responsibility and traitors. The Sun was shining on their way, the birds were singing sweetly, the flowers were blossoming and the wind was rustling in the leaves. It was such a beautiful day that even the constant derogatory comments of the deceased Uchiha clan couldn't ruin Naruto's mood. Tazuna's jibes were completely lost on him.

The road they traveled on was rarely used and there were few inns near it and far between. They passed one during the afternoon, but Tazuna insisted it was still too early to retire and they walked until darkness fell. They build a camp in the middle of woods.

Naruto was assigned the middle watch. Usually nobody wanted it, but he didn't mind. The opportunity he was waiting for finally came. He waited until Sakura, who had the first watch, fell soundly asleep. He created half a dozen Kage Bunshin and stationed them around the camp. Then he got up from his position and approached the sleeping Sasuke. More precisely his dead family.

The ghosts scowled as he approached.

"_Don't bother the Uchiha, trash," _Fugaku scowled.

"I come in peace," Naruto replied. It sounded lame even to him.

"_Are you deaf?__" _Fugaku scowled. _"I said don't come close!"_

"Please, listen to me."

"_No." _Naruto sighed. This was going to be harder than he imagined.

"I know you are suffering, but do you have to torture Sasuke as well?" Sneers were his only answer. "Aren't you his parents? Shouldn't you want him to be happy?"

"_What do you know about us, demon," _Fugaku hissed.

"_Happiness isn't the Uchiha way,"_ Obito commented, his voice hollow.

"Do you have to destroy what little family you have left?" Surely they would have to see reason.

"_Go away, demon!"_Or maybe not.

"I can't," the blond shook his head. "Not until you answer."

"_Go away, you vile creature!__" _Mikoto shrieked. _"It's all your fault!"_

"So you said before. And how exactly is it my fault?"

"_It's your fault!"_Some ghosts were extremely stubborn this way.

"So you insist on being difficult. Are you truly beyond reason?"

"_Don't insult us, demon!"_ The glares they sent him now were positively icy.

"If you still have the ability, think about the wellbeing of your son," he pleaded.

"_He will become strong,__" _the clan head declared.

"I didn't mean that." He said it bit more loudly than he wanted. His patience was stretched thin. Sasuke stirred in his sleep.

"_How dare you disturb my son!" _Fugaku bellowed. He launched himself at Naruto. His clansmen followed suit. Naruto soon felt the familiar cold seeping into his veins. He decided to call a retreat. There would be another night. He'll have to think more carefully about what he was going to say.

It was a long time before the spirits of the Uchiha clan calmed enough for Naruto to return to the camp. There was still over an hour of his shift left, so he tried to talk to the other ghost he wanted to talk to, namely the one that was following Tazuna. But the man wasn't capable of holding a conversation. He mostly stared ahead, sometimes muttering something about being scared, the bridge and some Gato. Naruto couldn't make any kind of sense of it, but one thing he knew for sure: There was more trouble ahead than they bargained for.


	9. Chapter 9

**A.N.:** Thanks to all my faithful readers and reviewers. Here comes next chapter.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto.

**Through the Eyes of Death**

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The next morning dawned bright and clear and the party embarked on their journey. Most of the day went very much like the previous one, bright sunny and disrupted only by the occasional comment. Sakura asked Tazuna whether they had a Hidden Village in Wave Country and a lesson of geography followed.

During the night Naruto tried to talk to the dead Uchiha again. They greeted him with their usual insults and sneers, but he ignored it.

"What would bring you peace?" he asked.

"_Go away, demon. Die!"_some Uchiha the genin didn't know by name suggested. Mikoto remained silent, looking sad.

"_Our clan must assume its rightful place," _Fugaku answered.

"_Stuffed-up pricks," _Obito commented.

"_Kill the traitor," _somebody said.

"_My poor baby,"_ Mikoto sighed and looked like she was going to cry.

"Whose blood will ease your suffering?"

"_The traitor!" "That old geezer!" "That murderer!" "You, demon!"_

The jinchuuriki sighed. The Uchiha seemed determined to be unhelpful.

"Would the death of the person who killed you be enough?"

"_Yes!" "No! All of them must die!"_

"All of whom?"

"_Them!"_Naruto hung his head in exasperation. This seemed to be leading nowhere. But he wasn't giving up just yet.

"Can you be reasonable?" he pleaded. "This shouting is unbefitting of the noble Uchiha clan."

"_What do you know about noble, trash!"_

"_How dare you!"_

"_We are superior! There's no doubt about it!"_

"_You're a bunch of pompous asses!" _Obito shouted.

"_You're a filthy traitor!" _

"_Am not!"_

The orange-clad genin exhaled deeply and counted to ten in his head. It didn't seem he was going to get anywhere today.

"Can you please get back on topic?" he asked. He was completely ignored.

The Uchiha clan didn't stop their bickering until his watch ended, so he had to try again the third night.

"What binds you to this world?" he inquired.

"_Our blood."__ "Our pain." "Our vengeance." _Typical. Ghosts usually answered this way: emotionally, but with little information given.

"What does Sasuke mean to you?"

"_He's our avenger!" "My baby!" "He couldn't stop his brother!"_So they didn't know what they wanted themselves. Great.

"_Why do you even bother with them?" _Obito asked. Why, indeed?

"Because they are tormenting my teammate," he answered.

"_And he is tormenting you," _the goggled Uchiha ghost pointed out.

"That's irrelevant," the blond answered. "We're still a team. No matter what kind of stuffed-up ass he is."

"_I had a stuffed-up ass for a teammate as well," _the goggled boy said.

"You did?" Naruto looked at him in surprise.

"_Of course,"_ the ghost confirmed. _"The masked dude over there."_

"Kakashi? Him? A stuffed-up ass?" The orange-clad genin couldn't believe his ears.

"_Yes, him," _Obito confirmed.

"I find it hard to believe."

"_You should __have met him when we were young," the spirit replied. "He was such a stickler to the rules that it wasn't even funny. Always used to chew my ears off for showing up late."_

"But he's the one who's always late," the jinchuuriki pointed out. He had a suspicion that Kakashi's deceased teammate was pulling his leg.

"_A lot of things changed after…" _He didn't finish. He didn't have to. Naruto knew very well what he was referring to. He decided to ask a question, which was very sensitive for every ghost.

"How did you die?"

"_Bad mission."_ Obito's eyes shot towards the jounin's sleeping form.

"What happened?" The spirit sighed. He seemed reluctant to speak.

"_Rock ninja," _he whispered. Once again his eyes strayed towards his teammate. It was obvious that it wasn't the whole truth, but it didn't seem like he would get more answers tonight.

"Do you blame Kakashi?" It was the wrong question to ask. Obito seemed to shrink into himself. Naruto sighed. This was going nowhere. But there were many nights ahead on their mission. He hoped he would have more success next time.

.-._.-._.-._.-._.-._.-._.-._.-._.-._.-.

In the afternoon of the fourth day Naruto noticed a suspicious puddle ahead. If it wasn't for the fact that the road was dry and dusty, then the ghosts glaring at it would tip him off that there was something wrong with it. Naruto glanced at his teammates. They looked completely oblivious to the strange occurrence.

_Mist ninja like to hide in puddles, _Naruto remembered what quite a few shinobi ghosts listed as their cause of death. There must be some hidden within the puddle and the ghosts around are their victims. But now how to alert the team and not the enemy?

He shook his water bottle. It made a splash.

"Kakashi-sensei," he started. "Do you think there's a spring nearby? I'm running low on water."

"You should have restocked when we passed the creek, baka!" Sakura tongue-lashed at him. At least she didn't punch him this time.

"Super brats," Tazuna muttered.

"But spring water is way better," the blond genin objected. "It's fresh and tasty. There must be one here. Why else would there be that puddle?"

"What does it matter, baka? Better watch the forest," Sakura suggested. "You'd never notice anyone hiding there this way." The demon vessel sighed. He was trying to help her and that was how she responded. Sasuke took a quick glance around. His hand slid closer to his weapon pouch. _At least one of them, _thought the boy. _Now if Sakura got the hint too…_

They walked closer and closer to the suspicious body of water. Naruto could see more details now. There really were people hiding inside. Two of them, to be precise. But how good were they? He had no idea. With each step his anxiety rose. Was he good enough to defend himself? Would they be able to protect their client? Was the ambush even meant for them? Who else, this road wasn't exactly frequented.

He covertly slipped a kunai into his sleeve. It never hurt to be prepared. Not being prepared on the other hand was the epitaph of many a shinobi. He didn't want to join their ranks. They were numerous enough as it was.

The puddle was now only a few steps away. He noticed movement within its depths. The attack would come anytime now. Three steps. Two. One. The blue-eyed youth walked around the puddle, tension evident in his movements. Why didn't anything happen yet? They passed the puddle and started walking away. Why wasn't anything happening? Was the ambush meant for somebody else after all? He noticed Sasuke relaxing. Maybe he should drop his guard as well? No, never drop your guard. Not for a fraction of a second. That's what all the ghosts agreed on.

He heard a rustle behind him. He turned on his heel, kunai poised to strike. Two figures sprang from the puddle, a chain held between them was thrown and now wrapping itself around Kakashi-sensei, who looked utterly startled. _Didn't the jounin notice anything?_ Naruto launched his kunai at the figure on the right. The ninja, whose hitai-ate identified him as a member of Kirigakure, batted it away with his armed gauntlet. The rope tightened, cutting the silver-haired man into pieces. But the orange-clad genin noticed something. Kakashi managed to pull a Kawarimi and was now hiding in the trees a bit behind the two attackers. _I hope this is a strategy and not just Kakashi being lazy._

"_Why are you hiding? There's a fight going on!" _shouted Obito scandalized.

"One down," one of the Mist shinobi boasted.

_You wish, _thought Naruto. He took out more kunai. By this time even his teammates noticed what was going on and turned around. Sasuke reacted quickly. He whipped out two shuriken and threw them at the approaching enemy. One of them was blocked, the other hit in the chest, but didn't manage penetrate the ninja's armor.

"_That's right, Sasuke! Show them the might of the Uchiha!"_

"_Kick the crap out of them!"_

"_Dispose of them like the trash they are!"_

The Demon Brothers prepared their chain for another throw. They were aiming at Naruto, who was the closest to them. _Are they trying the same tactic twice? Do they honestly expect it to work? _The genin quickly considered his options. If he tried to block the chain, it would just wrap around him. Dodging was better, but he still might get hit. Kawarimi sounded like the best choice. There even was a handy log lying not far behind the brothers. But on second thought, it was too handy. There might be a trap there. He didn't want to appear on an Exploding Tag.

He had been thinking for too long. The chain was launched into the air. Naruto dropped to the ground, throwing his kunai at the chain, trying to alter its trajectory. His aim was a tiny bit off, but it was too much. The thrown blade only nicked the chain and both then continued on their previous paths. Another kunai sailed over his head. Sasuke helped him. His kunai struck the chain and pinned it to a nearby tree. The Kiri shinobi looked a bit surprised, but overcame it quickly. They disconnected the chain from their gauntlets and rushed forward to engage in a taijutsu battle.

Naruto jumped to his feet. It was too late to reach for another kunai. He could only try his newest jutsu and hope it would work. He concentrated chakra to his right hand. He used as much of it as he could gather. _Please let it work,_ he prayed. One of the brothers, the one with two horns on his hitai-ate, was almost upon him. The Konoha genin punched, releasing the chakra upon contact. Or he tried to. In his haste he sent it forward too early. The wave of chakra slammed into the enemy, pushing him back. Naruto's fist soon followed, but the impact was weak. The Mist ninja was merely knocked down instead of blown away. The youth hissed in pain. His hand hurt. The scroll warned that this would happen if he overloaded the technique.

A hiss of metal slicing air brought him back to reality. The other attacker was almost upon him, swinging his gauntleted arm at his head. Naruto raised his arm to block, but he was knocked back anyway. The sharp edges of the gauntlet cut his skin.

He took a moment to survey the battlefield. The shinobi with one horn on his hitai-ate was now turning to Sasuke. The Last Uchiha looked ready for a taijutsu battle, but Naruto didn't give him high chances. Sakura stood in front of Tazuna, her hands locked in the last seal of her genjutsu, but he couldn't tell whether she managed to affect anyone. The two-horned brother was picking himself from the ground. The blue-eyed genin ignored the pain in his right hand and threw a handful of shuriken at the downed ninja. The Demon Brother managed to block some of them, but most went through. They couldn't pierce his armor, but one managed to embed itself in his unprotected thigh. Ah, so Sakura's genjutsu had worked. Unfortunately now it was broken.

The one-horned shinobi attacked Sasuke. The Rookie of the Year managed to dodge the first strike, but couldn't launch a counter-attack. And the Mist ninja was assaulting again.

Just when Naruto was about to despair about their situation, Kakashi decided to reenter the scene. Within a moment the Kiri shinobi were lying on the ground, bound by their own chain.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura squealed. "You're alive!"

"_My son didn't need your help,"_ Fugaku sneered. The fact that the statement was completely untrue didn't bother him the slightest.

Sasuke just glared.

"Finally," Naruto muttered.

"_So you decided to show your lazy butt finally, Kakashi?__" _Obito scolded. _"What would Sensei tell you? What if it was late again?"_

"We're saved," Tazuna sighed.

"Sorry I didn't act earlier and you got hurt, Naruto," Kakashi apologized.

"It's just a scratch, Kakashi-sensei," the genin brushed it off. The wound had already stopped bleeding.

"Their gauntlets were poisoned," the jounin explained. _Crap,_ Naruto's eyes widened. He realized the masked man was right. He had heard about the various poisons from Water Country before. Why didn't he realize it earlier? He drew a kunai and stabbed it into the already closing wound. Blood flowed freely once again.

"Naruto what are you doing?" Sakura screeched.

"Getting the poison out," he explained. _Duh. Isn't it obvious? _remained unsaid.

"You'll only hurt yourself worse!" the girl pointed out. "Let me see to that, I'll get some medicine…"

"_Just leave the monster alone,"_ one of the dead Uchiha suggested.

"Do you know which one?" he questioned. "Have you any idea how to identify the poison?"

The kunoichi was taken aback. "No," she admitted in a subdued tone.

"So you see," the orange-clad boy said. "This is the surest way to get it out."

"Tazuna-san," Kakashi turned to their client.

"What is it?" the elderly man replied. There was anxiety in his voice and it didn't seem to be only the aftereffect of the scare he got during the attack.

"I need to talk to you." The most dreaded sentence in the world. Tiny drops of perspiration formed on the bridge-builder's brow.

"These look like Hidden Mist Chuunins," the silver-haired jounin pointed at their two captives. "These shinobi are known to continue fighting no matter what." The grizzled man was now sweating in earnest.

"How did you read our movements?" the one-horned brother asked.

"Do you honestly expect us to tell you what you did wrong?" Naruto shot him a glance usually reserved for the worst pupil in the class. "We are your enemy, duh. Not your teachers."

"_Yeah, you are soooo stupid,__" _Obito snickered.

"It's not like it matters," Kakashi shrugged. "They aren't going anywhere." The brothers glared daggers at him. "On a sunny day like this, there shouldn't be a puddle." Naruto sighed. The one-eyed jounin sure was overconfident. And overconfidence was the downfall of many a shinobi.

"If you knew that," Tazuna asked, "why did you let the brats fight?"

"_Who are you calling brat, you trash?"_The three genin scowled at him.

"If I had wanted to, I could have killed them instantly," the sensei replied, "but there was something I wanted to find out: Who these two were after."

"Isn't it obvious?" Naruto raised an eyebrow. "They must have been after Tazuna. Nobody would send such a pair of incompetents after a trained ninja."

"Who are you calling incompetent, you twerp?" one of the captives shouted.

"Who's the one tied up?" the blond genin retorted.

"Wait till I get my hands on you," the Kiri ninja growled.

"Not going to happen," the Leaf genin answered with a bright smile.

"Why would they be after little old me?" Tazuna laughed nervously.

"That's what you should explain." Kakashi's single eye bore into him. "We haven't heard that there were shinobi after you. Our mission was simply to protect you from thieves or gangs. This has now become at least a B-rank mission. This was supposed to be a simple protection until you completed the bridge. If it was known that there were ninja after you, this mission would have been set as the more expensive B-rank. I'm sure you had a reason, but it causes problems when you lie about the mission. We are now operating outside our duties." Tazuna was staring at the ground, looking like a broken man.

Sakura looked between them and the bound Kiri ninja. They were only chuunin, yet they were so much stronger than them. The only thing she could do was to cast a genjutsu and she couldn't even tell whether it had any effect. Sasuke was amazing in his fight, but even through her rose-tinted glasses she could tell that he could have lost easily. If he was scratched by the poisoned claws like Naruto… And speaking of whom…

"We aren't ready for this mission," she said. She couldn't allow anything to happen to her Sasuke-kun and if all it took was looking like a coward, then so be it. "Let's quit! We will need medicine for Naruto's wound. We should get back in the village and get him to a doctor…"

"It's nothing, Sakura," the boy in question interrupted her. "It will heal in no time."

"Baka!" she shouted. "Don't you know anything about medicine? This won't heal in days! Your hand is going to be completely useless!" If such wound had been inflicted on a normal human, this statement would have been true. But the demon-vessel wasn't normal and he knew it. But his teammates didn't. So how should he explain that the injury had already almost healed without telling them his secret?

"We don't need the dobe's left hand anyway," Sasuke scoffed derogatorily. "He froze up wit both hands anyway." Naruto had to inwardly thank him for the perfect distraction.

"I did not!" he shouted back. The black-haired genin only snorted. The blond was troubled. He didn't really freeze with fear, but he spent such a long time pondering the right strategy that he reacted too late. The result was the same. This was something that mustn't be repeated.

"_An Uchiha can take care of everything himself," _Fugaku agreed.

"_Jerks," _Obito commented.

"Hn," Kakashi said, "this might be too much."

"_An Uchiha can take on anything!"_

"_So how did you end up like this?"_ the outcast snickered.

"I guess we should return to the village to treat Naruto," the jounin decided. The boy in question knew he didn't need any treatment and he reckoned the masked man knew it as well. But it sounded like a good excuse why to turn back. But the question was: should they?

"I have to talk to you," Tazuna said in a grave voice. He immediately got the attention of everybody. Then he proceeded to explain the gruesome situation his country had found itself in. By the end of his tale, everybody was moved.

"_Why should we care about some worthless peasants?" _Well, almost everybody.

"_You really are a bunch of arrogant jerks!__" _Obito screamed at them. _"You deserve to be dead!"_

"_How dare you, traitor? You're the one who deserves to be dead!"_

"_We cannot risk my son for the likes of him!" _Fugaku protested. _"He has to avenge us!"_

"_Revenge! Revenge! Is that all you care about!"_

"_Our deaths mustn't remain unpunished!"_

"_Forget I ever asked,"_ Obito sighed in exasperation. His clansmen were never going to change.

Naruto was torn. On one hand he wished to help the suffering people, but on the other hand he realized he wouldn't be able to do much. So far they have faced only two mediocre chuunin and they weren't faring all too well. If it wasn't for Kakashi's intervence, they would have most likely lost. And a rich businessman like Gatou had enough money to hire an army of jounin. If he did so, they would be screwed. They wouldn't be able to help the people of Wave Country any if they were dead.

Sakura was just plain scared. She was nearly useless during the fight and even if Sasuke was great as ever, she feared it might not be enough.

Her crush was brooding (as usual). Here were his first real enemies, and Kakashi didn't let him finish them off by himself. No, he had to interfere. How was he supposed to get stronger if he had no chance to test himself against stronger opponents? Couldn't his sensei see it? He was definitely carrying on this mission. He was going to defeat anybody who stood in his way. It was another step on his journey to defeat Itachi.

"We're going on," he decided.

"_That's dangerous," _Mikoto worried.

"_An Uchiha isn't a coward," _Fugaku pointed out.

"That's too dangerous," the silver-haired jounin objected. Tazuna retaliated with shameless emotional blackmail.

"_Dude, that man is quite something," _Obito stated with admiration. _"Even I wouldn't dare to pull something like that. Sensei would scold me into the next century."_

Surprisingly, Kakashi turned out to be extremely susceptible to those underhanded tactics. Or maybe he wanted to forge the bonds between his students in the heat of a battle. Either that or he hoped he would get rid of them permanently. So for whatever reason, they proceeded with the mission.


	10. Chapter 10

**A.N.:** The story moves another step. Read and enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto.

**Through the Eyes of Death**

_.-._.-._.-._.-._.-._.-._.-._.-._

Naruto's watch that night was tense. The ghosts were mingling around, but he didn't try to talk to them. He didn't dare. The memories of today's attack and Tazuna's subsequent explanation were still fresh in his mind. He had to remain alert to detect any enemies, much more because he didn't expect them to be mere civilian highwaymen like he had thought the nights before, but experienced ninja. Maybe even jounin.

A sudden rustle of leaves startled him. He straightened up, his eyes piercing the darkness, his ears strained to catch another sound of the late night's creature. It was only an owl. He calmed somewhat, but some of the tension remained.

"_Why so jumpy today?"_ Naruto jumped as the voice spoke next to his ear. It was all he could do not to shriek in terror and wake the whole camp.

"Obito!" he scolded the newcomer. His heartbeat was slowly returning to its normal pace. "Don't sneak up on me like that again. Understood?"

"_Why not?" _the spirit grinned. _"You jump so nicely."_

"It's not funny," the blond scowled.

"_It looked pretty funny from where I stood," _the young Uchiha disagreed.

"You almost caused a false alarm."

"_I did?" _the clan outcast raised his eyebrows, but the effect was a bit lost behind his goggles. _"You're the one who jumped two meters in the air."_

"You startled me."

"_A true ninja shouldn't let himself be surprised."_

"Ghosts don't count," the orange-clad genin grumbled.

"_I don't count? You're mean." _Obito looked like he was going to cry.

"You don't make any sound when you walk and you don't have any chakra presence," Naruto explained.

"_Good ninja don't make a sound as well," _the dead Uchiha reminded him. His eyes gained a faraway quality, like he was remembering something.

"True," the blond admitted. "So would you please go now? I have to be on guard."

"_Don't you like me anymore?"_

"Quit your whining. This isn't a time for it."

"_Why not?"_

"There might be enemies around. Or have you already forgotten?"

"_Of course not!"_Obito looked scandalized. He also sounded completely insincere.

"You did forget about it," Naruto smirked victoriously.

"_I didn't forget!" _the goggled boy defended his honor. _"I might not remember every detail, but I did not forget."_

The blond shrugged. "Whatever you say. But I guess you would appreciate if I recounted it for you."

"_Well, that would be nice," _Obito admitted. So the living genin started telling him.

"_That sounds like you're in quite a lot of trouble," _the ghost remarked when Naruto finished.

"No kidding," the blue-eyed youth agreed. "I wonder what was Kakashi thinking when he had us continue. We might be attacked anytime. And next time it won't be such a bunch of wimps."

"_Are you scared?"_ the dead Uchiha teased.

"I'm realistic," the still alive Uzumaki corrected. "I mean: What chance do we have against a team of jounin? One would occupy Kakashi and the others would massacre us and Tazuna. It almost makes me think that Kakashi wants to get rid of us." _Not that I can blame him, _he added silently.

"_That's not true," _the ghost defended his teammate hurriedly.

"I suppose you know him better than I. What makes you so sure?"

"_Kakashi wouldn't do that," _Obito remained stubbornly.

"You know," Naruto observed, "now you sound like you're trying to convince yourself."

"_Kakashi wouldn't abandon his comrades. Those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash."_There was a hint of desperation in his voice.

"What did happen?" Naruto inquired.

"_What?" _Obito looked around. _"Did I miss something?"_

"What happened to you and Kakashi?"

"_Bad mission."_The ghost stared at the ground.

"You said that before. What did go wrong with the mission?"

"_Everything."_He turned his eyes to his old comrade.

"You aren't overly cooperative tonight. Come on," Naruto prodded. "What was so terrible?" The dead Uchiha didn't answer. He stood motionlessly and stared at his sleeping teammate. "Did something happen to him? Or… do you blame him?" Obito didn't answer. He turned around and ran. He refused to speak another word for the whole night. Naruto returned to his silent vigil.

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The voyage across the straights was tense, but uneventful. The mist had conveniently hidden them from prying eyes and they remained undetected even as they sailed along the unfinished bridge. They all were impressed by the sheer size of the construction. They landed in a fishing village without further incident and bid their goodbyes to the man who had steered their boat. The place was rundown. It was easy to see that the country had indeed fallen on hard times.

Tazuna lead them through a small forest towards his home. As they were walking near a lake, Naruto spotted a man hiding in the bushes. He was concealed expertly, the blond had to admit. If it wasn't for his ability to see souls, he wouldn't have noticed anything. He shot a glance at Kakashi. The jounin was tense and alert, but he had been like that ever since they stepped on the soil of Nami no Kuni. There was no telling whether he detected the danger or not.

The blond genin covertly slipped a shuriken into his palm. In case his sensei had missed it, he had to alert him. When they came close enough, he flung the weapon. The throwing star sliced through the leaves of a nearby bush and embedded itself into the bark of a tree exactly where the unknown shinobi had been standing a moment before. He had escaped via a Kawarimi. Instead of him a startled white rabbit shot out of the foliage.

"Just a bunny," Naruto grimaced.

"Stop trying to act cool!" Sakura berated him. "There was nothing there!" The orange-clad genin paid her no mind. When the enemy ninja disappeared, he had to reappear somewhere. But where exactly? He strained his senses to locate him, but so far he had no luck.

"Stop acting like a moron, midget," Tazuna shouted. He was stressed out ever since the first attack and Naruto's sudden movement nearly gave him a coronary. He had to let out the tension somehow.

Kakashi meanwhile looked thoughtfully at the rabbit. It was white despite being the end of spring. That was not natural for it. He knew that Naruto's instincts were right one again. There was an enemy nearby. But where?

Naruto and Kakashi noticed him about the same time.

"Get down!" the jounin commanded. Everybody obeyed immediately. Everybody except Tazuna. The man remained standing upright, frozen with fear. The one-eyed ninja tackled him to the ground. The giant sword thrown with the intention to cleave them in half flew over their heads. The blade than hit a nearby tree and embedded itself deep into the trunk. An imposing figure appeared standing on its hilt.

"Well, well," Kakashi spoke. "If it isn't the Hidden Mist's missing-nin Momochi Zabuza-kun."

_No, it isn't him, _Naruto thought. He couldn't see the soul in the body, which meant it was just a clone. The real one was still hiding and Naruto could see where. He also saw the ghosts following him. He was appaled at how many of them were children. It didn't ease his fears any. He had heard of Momochi Zabuza before. It wasn't much, but it sounded scary. They were in way over their heads. Why did they continue the mission again? They were likely to get slaughtered here.

"Everybody go back," the silver-haired jounin commanded. "This one's on a whole other level. Against him, it would be a little tough," he reached for his headband, "unless I do this." And he lifted the hitai-ate.

"_I can see!"_ Obito rejoiced dancing around.

"_Thief!" "Burn in Hell!" _various other members of the Uchiha clan expressed their opinions.

"You appear to be Sharingan Kakashi," Zabuza's clone spoke. "Sorry, but the old man is mine."

_Sharingan?_ Sasuke glared at Kakashi. _How can he have Sharingan? He isn't an Uchiha!_

"_Thieving scum," _Fugaku spat.

"Surround and protect Tazuna-san," the masked jounin commanded. "Do not enter the fight. That's teamwork here." The three genin obeyed. Naruto took the position that was facing the hiding place of the real Momochi Zabuza.

"Zabuza, first fight me."

"I already get to see the famous Sharingan," the clone of the Kiri nukenin spoke. "I am honored." It then launched into a lengthy monologue about Kakashi's reputation. _He's buying time, _Naruto realized. _But what for? _He kept his eyes on the real one and he didn't seem to be doing anything. _Maybe somebody else is. _It should have occurred to him earlier that the Demon of the Bloody Mist might not be alone, but he couldn't see his suspected partner in crime anywhere. But that didn't mean there was no-one there. Even he couldn't see the souls through too many solid objects. He covertly scanned the canopy, but so far no luck.

"Now, let's end the talking," Zabuza wrapped his speech, "I have to kill the old man." Sasuke and Sakura immediately went on guard. Naruto didn't let it down first place, but even he tensed. "But it seems, Kakashi, I have to beat you first."

The clone jumped into attack as soon as he finished speaking. _He occupies Kakashi's attention and ours too, _Naruto realized, _and the real one is going to attack from a different direction._

The clone landed on the surface of the lake. It formed seals with one hand and mist started forming around him. Before it obscured him completely, he spoke: "Ninpou: Kirigakure no jutsu." In the next moment he disappeared from their sights, completely vanishing into the white mist that had encompassed everything around.

"He'll come after me first," Kakashi said. _I disagree, _thought Naruto. _Tazuna is his target. Once he kills him, he can get away and collect his pay. He doesn't have to fight you at all._ "Momochi Zabuza, as the member of Hidden Mist, he was an expert in Silent Killing. You don't even notice until you're already dead, so be careful, guys." _And just what do you think we are doing, having a picnic? The mist is getting thicker. I can't even see the real one anymore. He'll attack anytime now._

As soon as he thought it, Zabuza's distorted voice sounded form what felt like all around them. Naruto guessed it was another jutsu, meant to intimidate the enemy. It was working.

"Eight choices. Liver, lungs, spine, clavical vein, neck vein, brain, kidneys, heart. Which one I should go after?" The voice was mocking. The Killer Intent accompanying it was not.

Sasuke was sweating profoundly. The oppressive aura in the air was getting to it.

"_My poor baby," _Mikoto cooed.

"_Fear is unbefitting o__f an Uchiha," _Fugaku sneered, but it did nothing to Sasuke. He couldn't take it anymore. The feeling of having his life squeezed out of him, if he had to endure it any longer it would drive him insane. Better to have it over with. His shaking hands slowly lifted his kunai.

"Sasuke!" Naruto scolded him when he noticed what his teammate was doing. He felt like suffocating as well, but this wasn't the first time he had Killer Intent turned towards him, so he had build some tolerance against it. But even he was trembling now.

"Sasuke," Kakashi shouted and that finally seemed to get through the haze The Last Uchiha was in. "Don't worry. I'll protect you guys even if it kills me."

"_And it better kills you, thief,"_ some dead Uchiha added.

"I don't let my comrades die," the silver-haired jounin added.

"_You say that now!" _Obito screamed in rage. So he really blamed Kakashi for his death. Naruto absent-mindedly made a mental note that he'd have to ask him about it.

"We'll see about that!" Zabuza's voice resounded from the mist. Naruto noticed a buildup of chakra behind him. Without thinking he jumped and pushed Tazuna out of the way.

"It's over," spoke a clone of Zabuza that had materialized between the three genin. In the next moment it was tackled by a clone of Kakashi. The Bunshin of Zabuza turned into water, but another appeared behind the clone of the Leaf jounin. The Kakashi clone was cleaved in halves by Kubikiri Houchou, before dissolving into water as well. Zabuza's clone looked a bit startled until Kakashi, the real one this time, placed a kunai at his neck.

"Don't move," he commanded. "It's over."

"It's a clone!" Naruto shouted. The Copycat looked at him in surprise. In the next instant the real Zabuza appeared behind him. The clone dispersed. The silver-haired man barely dodged a vicious sword slash and tried to retaliate, but the Kiri Swordsman didn't let him. He pressed on his attack with such viciousness, that the famous Copy Ninja was hard pressed to defend. After a while Kakashi was thrown into the lake.

"Suirou no Jutsu," spoke Zabuza with a smirk. It couldn't be seen through the wraps on his face, but it was apparent in the satisfied tone of his voice. In the next moment the Konoha jounin was trapped within a huge sphere of water.

"_Kakashi!" _Obito shouted desperately.

"_Serves you right, thief."_

"_What will happen to Sasuke now?"_

Zabuza started gloating. He was relishing in getting one over the famous Copycat. "We'll finish this later," he ended his speech. "First I will take care of them. Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu!" Another clone rose form the water.

"Hehe," it chuckled, and launched into a speech meant to torment them. Naruto had to agree with it that Sasuke and Sakura were merely acting like real ninja, but he had dealt with death before. He was dealing with it on daily basis.

The clone activated the Kirigakure no Jutsu again. It had dispersed during the taijutsu exchange between the two jounin. The three genin and one bridge builder were trying to guess where the next attack would come from. It came in the form of a foot impacting with Naruto's stomach. The blond had noticed slight movement in the mist, but he was too slow to do anything about it. The jounin was too far above him in terms of ability. He was sent flying, his hitai-ate falling form his head.

"Naruto!" Sakura yelped.

"Just a brat," Zabuza sneered. The mist began slowly dispersing again.

"Take Tazuna and run!" Kakashi shouted. "You have no chance of beating him! As long as he's keeping me trapped, he can't move!"

_And how far do you suppose we would get? _Naruto grimaced. _What will stop him from simply killing you and then running after us? We'd stand no chance as well._

"The Water Clone can't get very far from the real body! Just take Tazuna and run!" _Sorry, that's not an option, _Naruto thought. _But what is? _He looked at the Mizu Bunshin. It was standing on his hitai-ate, mocking him, daring him to try and take it. Behind it the real one stood on the surface on the lake, one hand holding the globe of water imprisoning Kakashi. _That must cost him quite a lot of chakra, _the blond mused. _I wonder how long he can keep it up. Maybe if we dragged it out until he ran out…Nah, he won't fall for it. He'd just kill Kakashi the moment he feels his chakra running low. We're lucky he likes to play with his victims, otherwise we were already dead. But we have to act quickly. But what can we do? We're just three genin against an elite jounin. If only Kakashi was free… Wait, there's an idea. Why does this Zabuza character hold the Water Prison with his hand? Would it disappear if he let go? That's worth a try._

"You think you can scare us with your talking? Cha! You'll have to do much better than that!" He formed a cross-shaped seal and called forth two dozens of Kage Bunshin. He sent them to charge at the Zabuza clone. While it was preoccupied destroying a swarm of orange-clad blonds, the real one ran over to Sasuke.

"I have a plan, but I need your help," he announced.

"Plan? You?" The Last Uchiha scoffed.

"_It must be an idiotic plan coming from such idiot," _Fugaku commented.

"Listen, we only have to make him let go of the Water Prison and release Kakashi-sensei. The rest would be up to him." He quickly outlined what he had devised. Sasuke didn't look convinced, but having no better plan himself, he reluctantly agreed.

It was just about time. The Zabuza-clone was toying around with two last Naruto-clones. Kakashi once again shouted that they should run. Tazuna tried apologizing for getting them into the mess, but they weren't listening to him. They had a battle to fight.

Zabuza's clone destroyed the last of Naruto's and the original launched into another lengthy demotivational speech, this time about how fearsome ninja he used to be when he was their age. Naruto let him speak. The longer he had to maintain the Suirou, the more chakra he wasted. Finally the lesson in history of the Bloody Mist was over and Zabuza-clone sprang forward to kick around Sasuke. After two seconds, the Uchiha was lying on the ground, Zabuza's clone laying a foot on his stomach, the deceased clansmen screaming bloody murder and calling all imaginable disasters on his head. The orange-clad genin swore internally. They had wasted too much time. He had to get Sasuke free or his plan wouldn't work and they would be done for.

Having no solid strategy for such situation, he formed another bunch of Shadow Clones. He sent them to attack. He used a pattern that he had tried in training, but never used it in combat, including sparring. He had the clones form groups of three, two of them would lift the third and throw him at the enemy. The airborne clone would then use the Te Oshi no Jutsu to make his attack more deadly.

Zabuza's clone looked unfazed by the attack. He unsheathed his giant zanbato and started cleaving the clones in halves left and right. Out of the whole charge, only one got through, obscured from the Zabuza-clone's sight by the smoke the other clones left behind when they dispersed. He crouched low and punched the Water Clone in the thigh. Then he released the chakra stored in his fist. For a human, it wouldn't have been a crippling blow, but it disrupted the flow of chakra keeping the Mizu Bunshin together. It soon dispersed into water.

The freshly freed Sasuke scrambled to his feet.

"The plan," Naruto reminded him. The Uchiha nodded.

The blond created twenty more Kage Bunshin. They started running at the Kiri nukenin.

"It didn't work against my clone," the Swordsman taunted. "What makes you think it will work against me?" Then he noticed the fuuma shuriken flying towards him over the clones' heads. "A distraction? That's better but a shuriken won't work against me." He made a small step and the spinning weapon passed him harmlessly. Then he noticed the second one hiding in the first shuriken's shadow. "Better but still not enough," he announced jumping over it. He somehow managed to pull it off without letting go of the prison. He never noticed the first fuuma shuriken changing into the real Naruto.

The genin's hands formed seals before he could touch the water. He landed with a splash. That was something the former member of the Seven Swordsmen couldn't miss. He turned around, his eyes widening with surprise. He didn't have the time to do anything else. Naruto's jutsu was already activated. He intended to create a Mizu Bunshin under Zabuza's feet to throw him off-balance and make him release Kakashi, but he had overloaded the technique badly. Also he didn't think of forming a clone, but of making a wave or spear of water. The result was that a geyser erupted under the nukenin's feet, throwing him into the air. His right arm lost its contact with the sphere enveloping Kakashi. The globe of water dissolved. The Leaf jounin was finally free.

Zabuza landed on the water and gripped his sword. He'd show that little Konoha brat. Naruto's eyes widened in fear. The huge blade was coming close too fast for him to dodge. In the last possible moment it was blocked by Kakashi.

"Now you have to fight me." And fight they did. Naruto, who quickly resumed his place beside Tazuna, could only stare at the skill and power exhibited by the two jounin. He had to commend Kakashi for the clever way he used his Sharingan to unsettle Zabuza.

But as the fight progressed, he noticed something else. There was a person hidden in the trees nearby. He was positive they weren't there before, he would have spotted them otherwise. He contemplated telling Kakashi, but the jounin had probably detected them as well. And even if he didn't he might only distract him at a crucial moment. The fight against the Kiri jounin was quite intense.

Finally, with the last powerful jutsu, Kakashi had flung Zabuza against a tree. As the Swordsman was lying there wounded, eyes wide with disbelief over his loss, Naruto noticed the mysterious person moving. The silver-haired man still showed no sign of noticing it. He walked up calmly to the downed Mist nukenin, preparing to finish him off.

"There's another one!" the blond genin shouted. Everybody looked at him in surprise. Everybody but Zabuza, who at the same moment was struck by a handful a senbon to his neck. He fell to the ground motionless. But he was still alive, that much Naruto could tell.

"Hehe, you're right, he's dead," spoke the enigmatic newcomer. It was a short fellow with his face covered by a mask.

"No, he's not," Naruto disagreed. He had the sinking feeling that they were now looking at the suspected accomplice of Zabuza. Unfortunately nobody else shared his opinion.

Kakashi touched Zabuza's neck. "He's really dead," he confirmed. But the genin knew better. He could see the soul still firmly connected to the body.

"He's not dead," he spoke again.

"Shut up, baka," Sakura scolded him. "If Kakashi-sensei says he's dead, then he's dead."

The figure than thanked him for helping him kill Zabuza and introduced himself as Kiri's hunter nin. Naruto only scowled. He didn't believe the guy a word. He made his opinion known.

"He's lying!"

"Shut up!" Sakura punched him. She needed an outlet for all the pent-up stress.

The fake (as Naruto was convinced) hunter nin jumped down from the tree and landed beside Zabuza. "I'll dispose of the body now," he announced grabbing onto the fallen nukenin.

"Don't let him go!" the blond shouted, hurling a fistful of shuriken at them. But he was too late. The two disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

"Damn it! They got away!" he swore.

"Naruto! Language!" Sakura scolded.

"Why didn't you make sure he was dead?" the enraged genin turned to Kakashi.

"I touched his neck," the jounin pointed out.

"You should have slit it," Naruto replied. "Now he got away and he'll be back." The masked jounin didn't answer. He merely pulled his hitai-ate down over his Sharingan eye and fainted.

"_I can't see!" _Obito wailed.

"Thrice damn it," the orange-clad boy swore. "The enemy is still around and now Kakashi-sensei is down."

"Stop trying to make yourself look cool," Sakura berated him. "We all saw that Zabuza was dead."

"I saw he was still alive," the whiskered boy opposed her.

"Stop arguing," Sasuke interrupted. "You should be more concerned what are we going to do now."

"_Well done, my son. Show them that the Uchiha are natural leaders."_

"Yes," Tazuna said. "Super thanks for saving me. Now come and relax at my super grand house."


	11. Chapter 11

**A.N.:** Another chapter here. An event so many reviewers were asking for is about to happen!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto.

**Through the Eyes of Death**

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"How did you do it, dobe?"

They were walking along the road leading to Tazuna's home. Sasuke and Sakura were guarding the grizzled man while Naruto and his clones carried the unconscious Kakashi.

"What?"

"How did you know the hunter nin was there?" Sasuke elaborated.

"I saw him," Naruto answered simply. He had no intention of explaining how exactly did he do it. "And he wasn't a real hunter-nin."

"Can you drop it finally?" Sakura scolded him exasperatedly. "Kakashi-sensei said he was a hunter-nin so he was a hunter nin. And that Zabuza guy is dead."

"It's easier to believe it, isn't it?" the jinchuuriki replied. "Because if you admit he isn't dead, it means he'll be coming back." Sakura fell silent. The thought that they might have to face the Kiri nukenin again sent cold shivers along her spine.

"You think he'll be coming again?" Tazuna asked fearfully.

"Possibly."

"Kakashi-sensei said he was dead," the pink-haired kunoichi repeated, but it was obvious she was trying to convince herself. Her complexion was unusually pale and little drops of perspiration formed on her brow. Naruto decided he had to calm her down.

"Even if he isn't dead, he is wounded," he observed. "He would take some time to heal. I doubt they have a decent hospital around here."

"Maybe he'll die," the girl offered hopefully.

"Maybe," her short teammate shrugged. Miracles sometimes happen. They merely tended to avoid him.

"We're here," Tazuna interrupted. The three young ninja ceased their bickering. The forest ended and they reached the seashore. There, on poles sunk deep into the bottom stood the bridge-builder's house.

The elderly man opened the door without knocking and entered. Team 7 filed in after him. Their sudden arrival surprised a young dark-haired woman working at the kitchen table.

"Father!" she exclaimed joyfully. "You're back!" Then she noticed the inert form o Kakashi. "What happened to him?" she worried. "Is he wounded?"

"He's exhausted," Naruto explained. "We were attacked on the way here." This caused Tazuna's daughter to startle.

"Are you alright?" she turned to her father.

"Yes, we are, Tsunami," he replied.

"Is there a room I can put him down?" The orange-clad genin gestured to his sleeping burden. "He's quite heavy." Sasuke scoffed.

"Oh, forgive me my rudeness," the woman apologized. "Put him to the guestroom. It's over there."

"Thank you," the blond replied and carried his unconscious sensei away. As he was laying Kakashi down on the futon, he noticed he was being watched. A young child was peeking through a door, but he ran away the moment he noticed Naruto looking back. The genin didn't think much of it. He'd see the kid again soon enough.

He returned to the kitchen. Tsunami was busy at the table, trying to prepare dinner for the unexpected guests. He noticed she had trouble putting together the necessary ingredients. Either they had come at a bad time, or there really was a shortage of supplies in Wave.

The lunch was a bit awkward occasion. Tazuna was trying to brighten the mood up by retelling the story of their super journey and Team 7's super heroic battles, but it wasn't working. Tsunami was obviously worried about him and hard-pressed to believe that a bunch of three kids can do anything about Gatou. The fact that her father didn't sound entirely convinced of the tale he was spinning didn't help a bit. The young kid Naruto noticed earlier was watching them from a hiding spot behind the door, but didn't come out. Tsunami was shooting him worried glances occasionally, but didn't say anything.

Once the meal was over, Tazuna declared he had to tell the workers they would be resuming the construction tomorrow. Naruto and Sasuke accompanied him while Sakura stayed behind to watch over Kakashi. It was a depressing journey. Most of the workers were tired, weary man on the verge of breaking. When they heard that Tazuna had brought shinobi for their protection, their eyes lit up, but once they saw the two genin, the hope was replaced with skepticism, much to the chagrin of Sasuke and his spiritual tagalongs. If the situation wasn't so dire, Naruto would have found it funny.

Dinner was much like the lunch, a silent and tense affair. Tazuna called it an early night, claiming he had to be rested for tomorrow's construction. The three genin decided to retire early as well. The day had taken a lot out of them and they needed to be fresh early the next morning. But even in the relative safety they agreed to take shifts watching.

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It was Naruto's shift again. He spent the first part of it sitting beside the unconscious Kakashi, trying to talk to Obito, but the goggled Uchiha was still sulking and remained stubbornly silent. The blond genin gave up after a while and tried wandering through the house instead. The floorboards creaked slightly under his feet and the sound echoed through the empty corridor ominously. It almost made the boy think that Zabuza had come back for them, but there was no intruder in the house. The genin sighed. This situation was making them all tense to the point of snapping. He prayed that Kakashi would wake up soon, otherwise there would be no guarantees on what might happen.

The threat of another attack was hanging over their heads and he expected it to come crashing down of them any minute. He knew that the Demon of the Mist was down for the count for the time being, but his partner-in-crime was not. He might be busy tending to his wounded comrade now, but he would be coming back, of that Naruto had no doubts. He might fear Kakashi, but what if he found out the jounin was wounded as well? The blond boy didn't know anything about his fighting abilities, but he had the sneaking suspicion that three genin would barely slow him down.

Such was his distraction, that he didn't even notice a spirit lingering in the hallway until he walked right through him. Only the chilly feeling reaching deep into his bones woke him from his musings. He quickly berated himself. Wasn't he supposed to be keeping watch? If Zabuza's accomplice really came, they could have been all dead now.

He took a breath to compose himself and slowly turned around. There stood a dark-haired man with a rope tied around his head and a cross-shaped scar marring his chin. An odd expression was etched on his face, like he couldn't decide between smiling and crying.

"Hello," Naruto greeted hesitantly. "I didn't mean to walk through you." The ghost smiled slightly.

"_Hello," _he answered. _"I don't mind."_ The boy smiled back. It was always better when the ghosts retained their reason.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto," he introduced himself. "What's your name, sir?"

"_Kaiza."_

"Pleased to meet you," the genin smiled. "So, what are you doing here?"

"_Watching my son,__"_ Kaiza answered.

"Do you mean the boy who is always hiding?"

"_Yes, that's my little Inari."_ Sadness laced the man's voice. It was obvious to Naruto that the child had a lot of to do with the reason Kaiza's spirit lingered, but it would be unwise to ask him straight. Some ghosts took offense to such actions and refused to speak to him for a long time after that. Obito was one such example.

"You must love him very much," he said instead.

"_That I do,__"_ the dead fisherman confirmed.

"I'm sure he loves you too."

"_Yes." _The ghost looked wistfully through the closest door.

"He's hurting a lot, isn't he?" It wasn't really a question.

"_That he is." _Inari's father's ghost hung his head sadly.

"I'm sure he will get better," Naruto tried to reassure him. "I think if Gatou wasn't here, he might be better already."

"_If Gatou wasn't__ here, he wouldn't be like that,"_ the spirit replied.

"I saw the people in town," the young shinobi said with a sigh. "They sure are scared for their lives. Gatou must have done horrible things to make them that way."

"_That he d__id,"_ Kaiza confirmed.

"He did something to you as well, didn't he?" Another question that wasn't really a question.

"_Yes." _The spirit's face gained such a look of pain and terror, that Naruto didn't dare to inquire about it any more. He decided to steer the conversation to more pleasant topics.

"This is a nice house you have here. It must have been great living here before…" Oh crap, he put his foot into his mouth again.

"_Tazuna's house is quite something, isn't it?" _Kaiza replied with a fond smile. _"It's quite a step up from the hut I grew up in. But that's what you would expect from an architect."_

"I guess so," Naruto shrugged. "I haven't lived in such a big house either."

"_Really?__" _the scarred man raised his eyebrows. _"You seem quite well off to me, but what would I know, I'm just a simple fisherman."_

"I look well-off?" Now it was Naruto's turn to look surprised. "Now that's a first. Most people say I look like a ruffian."

"_Then they are a bunch of snobs."_

"Some of them certainly are," the genin replied remembering some of the people he knew from Konoha.

"_Anyway, what are you doing here?"_ the fisherman inquired.

"Me and my team were hired to protect Tazuna while he builds the bridge," the orange-clad genin explained.

"_That's great, we really need it. But… aren't you kind of young?"_ After a whole half day of hearing similar comments Naruto's patience was nearing its end. Somehow, he managed to suppress the urge to shout about being the next Hokage; if he woke up the household, he would have some awkward explaining to do.

"Our sensei is one of the best jounin in Konoha," he replied instead.

"_That's good,__" _Kaiza nodded, _"but you must remember, Gatou is ruthless. He won't stop before anything."_

"That's good to know, though we figured out as much ourselves," Naruto replied.

"_Trust me, kid, you don't know the half of it." _Once again Kaiza's eyes became haunted.

"What is it we don't know?" _It would certainly be useful to know_ remained unsaid.

"_What he did to break this country's spirit."_

"And how did he do it?" That sounded like a key piece of intelligence.

The spirit started shaking and hugging himself. _"So much pain,"_ he whispered. _"Too much pain."_

"Hey, mister, it's past," Naruto tried. "He can't hurt you anymore."

"_Hurts too much." _Kaiza kept on shaking. The genin sighed. He caused the ghost a fit. Great. And he had been such an informative one. Well, he'd have to try again tomorrow.

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The morning came and Kakashi still didn't wake up. Everybody gathered for breakfast and that included Inari. Naruto could finally get a look at the elusive youngster. He could be eight years old and he was dressed in clean, but worn-out and patched clothes. Naruto couldn't see his face, it was hidden in the shadow of an overlarge hat.

"Nice you joined us, Inari," Tsunami said with a smile. The child only grunted in response.

"Hello," Naruto said, trying to sound cheerful. He got no reaction at all. He decided to leave the matters be for the time being and concentrate on his breakfast. They had a long day ahead of them.

After they ate their meal in silence, Tazuna stood up.

"I'm going to the bridge," he announced. Naruto and Sasuke fell in step behind him. Sakura stayed behind to watch over Kakashi.

"You're going to die," Inari announced.

"Inari," Tsunami chastised him exasperatedly. "Be polite to our guests. They are here to protect your grandfather."

"Why? They are going to die anyway." The youngster finally looked up and revealed his face. It would have been an unremarkable childish face if it wasn't for his large haunted eyes.

"Such a cheerful lad you are," Naruto muttered sarcastically. "Would it kill you to smile once in a while?"

Inari scoffed. "You don't know anything. You think you are big, strong ninja but you are all going to die. Gatou will kill you."

"Oh, he'd certainly try," the blond replied, "but it isn't so easy to kill us." Sasuke and Sakura nodded in agreement.

"You think so." Inari obviously didn't share their opinion.

"I know so," Naruto corrected with conviction he didn't truly feel.

"Then you're a fool," the child stated. "No-one can oppose Gatou. It's hopeless."

"You're hopeless," Naruto corrected. "What is your life worth if you give up?"

"I live," the child replied. "You're going to be dead."

"You don't know it," the orange-clad genin opposed him.

"I do know," Inari stood his ground. "You think you are some kind of hero but there are no heroes!" the boy shouted. The pain in his voice made Naruto pause.

"Inari, that's enough!" Tsunami chastised him. "Apologize to our guests! They're trying to help!"

"They're going to die!" the boy shouted and ran out of the room.

"Please excuse my grandson," Tazuna said. "He wasn't like this before his father died."

"Father I told you not to speak about that man in front of Inari!" The old bridge builder had the grace to look a bit ashamed. Naruto didn't like the tension in the air and decided to do something to defuse it.

"Shouldn't we be going?" he asked.

"Yes, we should," Tazuna agreed. "If we hurry, we might finish the arch today." The trio left the house.

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As they were walking to the construction site, Naruto asked Tazuna what tragedy had befallen his family and the architect told them the tragic story of Kaiza. _No wonder the ghost didn't want to talk about it, _Naruto thought. _I can't even imagine what is something like that like. _Even Sasuke looked mildly sick, which, considering his usually stoic face, meant a lot.

Finally they arrived at the bridge. They had seen it before, through the mist, and thought it was huge. But even then they had misjudged the sheer size of the structure. Only now, in broad daylight, it was fully visible. It was even higher than they had originally thought and its length seemed to go on and on forever. Tazuna walked on it and they travelled its length. The waves beneath them were dancing and splashing against the pillars. A solitary ghost was sitting near one of them, mumbling about a broken rope. They left the accident victim behind and marched forward until the coast of Wave Country turned into a thin bluish line on the horizon and another faint line appeared in front of them: the shores of Fire Country. Soon they arrived at the end of the finished part and met with the workers already waiting for them.

"Alright, men," Tazuna called without preamble, "let's start working." And he proceeded to give orders to the men. The construction slowly commenced.

It was painfully obvious that they were understaffed. The men weakened by malnutrition were struggling with beams and blocks too heavy for them and they often had to stop to catch their breath. The work proceeded at a sluggish pace. Naruto was no expert, but it seemed to him like the construction would last for another year and he had no intention of staying here that long. And judging from Sasuke's dark expression, the boy had come to a similar conclusion.

"Hey, Sasuke," the blond genin started.

"Hn," the black haired one acknowledged him, which coming from him was quite a lot.

"You can see anyone approaching from a mile away so there's no need for the both of us to be on guard all the time," he pointed out.

"Do you want to slack off?" his teammate inquired.

"No," the orange-clad boy shook his head. "I want to help Tazuna. The sooner the bridge is finished the sooner we can get out of here."

"Hn," Sasuke replied. Naruto wasn't completely sure, but it sounded like approval.

"_Yes, go,"_ Fugaku sneered. _"Maybe you'll be a better construction worker than ninja."_ The Uzumaki paid him no mind and jogged over to Tazuna.

"Is something wrong?" the bridge builder asked.

"No," the young shinobi assured him. "I just thought that perhaps I might help. You seem to be short on staff here."

"Well, we can use a pair of hands here," the elderly man admitted, "but, don't take me wrong, boy, but what can you do? You don't seem able to lift one of those beams. And I hired you as guards, not workers."

"Oh, I'm strong enough," Naruto replied, "and besides, the sooner the bridge is finished the sooner our mission is over. Gatou won't have a reason to target you afterwards, so I'd be doing what I was hired for."

"If you see it that way," Tazuna shrugged, "you're welcome to try." And he gestured to a steel beam lying nearby. Naruto walked over to it and picked it up. It was heavier than he thought and he had to use chakra to reinforce his muscles, but he managed it nevertheless. The old bridge builder was deeply impressed.

"Well, I'll be damned," he said scratching his scalp. "You actually did it."

"Yes, and now where should I put it? You know, it's kind of heavy."

"Over there," the architect pointed and the genin obeyed his command.

"So what I should do now? I can do a lot of work. Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

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In the evening Naruto felt completely drained, but everybody was in good spirits. Only Inari was off sulking somewhere. Thanks to the swarm of Naruto's clones the construction moved forward faster than they had dared to hope. Tazuna said that this way they'd finish the work soon, omitting to say what 'soon' meant. The only damper on their mood was the fact that Kakashi was still out of it, but according to Sakura he looked now merely fast asleep, not deep unconscious anymore.

Despite his exhaustion, Naruto couldn't fall asleep the night. He wandered the hallways aimlessly. He encountered the spirit of Kaiza again.

"I heard about what Gatou did," he said. "I'm so going to get rid of him."

"_Thank you,"_ the ghost responded with a smile. _"This country needs a hero." _He turned away and continued watching over the sleeping Inari.

Naruto wandered some more until he walked into Kakashi's room. There was only the long dead teammate watching over the sleeping jounin.

"Hello," he greeted.

"_Hello,"_ Obito responded. So the ghost was talking to him again. That was good.

"How is he?" he asked looking at Kakashi.

"_Still asleep. Slacker,__"_ the Uchiha outcast couldn't help but voice his opinion.

"He was in a battle," Naruto pointed out. "He deserves his rest."

"_It's already over a day,__" _Obito reminded him.

"Do you think that's too long?"

"_If it was me, I'd be already up and about,"_ the Uchiha boasted.

Naruto took another look at his sensei's masked face. "He looks so peaceful," he observed. "Though it's hard to tell with his mask on."

"_Yes," _the ghost agreed. _"I always wondered why he insists on wearing it all the time."_

"So do you know how does he look underneath?" he asked turning back to Obito.

"_No__," _he shook his head. _"But I always wondered. I tried to unmask him so many times, but I never succeeded."_

"Did Sakura take a peek?" Naruto inquired.

"_No," _Kakashi's deceased teammate sighed. _"That girl's such a stickler to rules it isn't even funny."_

"That she is. You realize now it's an excellent opportunity?" Naruto pointed out with a grin.

"_Yes," _Obito grinned back.

"So let's do it," the genin decided and turned back to his sensei. He found himself staring into his single eye that was wide open.


	12. Chapter 12

**A.N.:** Your prayers have been heard, I'm back with the next chapter of your favourite story. I hope To update more regularly, but I can't make any promises.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto.

**Through the Eyes of Death**

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Naruto froze. Oh no. He didn't just talk to a ghost in front of his sensei. What did Kakashi think, seeing him speak to thin air? And how much did he hear? And what should he do now? Tell the truth? No. He didn't even consider it. Telling the truth never did him much good. He had tried to tell somebody about his ability before, but it didn't go well. Well, 'didn't go well' was quite an understatement. Even now he shuddered when he remembered it.

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The orphanage courtyard was full of laughing, playing children. The older ones were running around in a game of tag, the younger ones were busy in the sandbox. All of them were happy. All but one. One small child was sitting in the furthest corner, hugging his knees, wide blue eyes fixated on something only he could see. And judging by the expression on his small face, it wasn't a pretty sight.

"Lunchtime!" A woman's voice carried over the courtyard. All the children turned their heads towards her, abandoned whatever they were doing and raced to the dining room. All except one. The lone child huddling in the corner remained still, gazing fearfully at thin air.

"It's lunch," the matron repeated. "Didn't you hear? Come in before there's nothing left for you." The boy's eyes shifted to her momentarily before returning to whatever they were watching before. The young woman sighed. She was new to the orphanage, new to Konoha as well, but she had already noticed that there was something strange with the blond boy with the strange whisker-like marks on his cheeks. She walked over to him and crouched down.

"Hey, sweetie," she spoke softly. "It's lunch already. Come in or the others would leave nothing for you." The boy didn't move. "Come on," she prodded. "What's wrong with you? Are you ill?"

"You're sitting in him," Naruto replied.

"What?" she blinked in confusion. The comment made absolutely no sense.

"You're sitting in him," Naruto repeated. "He doesn't like it."

"Honey, there's nobody here," she put on her best motherly smile. "Just come on and eat your lunch."

"I can't," he shook his head sadly. "He wouldn't let me."

"Who?" she inquired.

"He," Naruto repeated. "You're sitting in him. And he's really angry. Can't you tell?"

"No," she shook her head. "There's nobody here. And come on or there will be really nothing left for you." Although she was trying to hide the fact, her patience was slowly wearing down. She grabbed the boy by his arm and pulled him to his feet.

"No!" he protested loudly. "I can't go there!"

"Stop this nonsense and come already," she commanded. "Your imaginary friend would be still here when you come back."

"He's not my friend and he's not ima…gi…gi… whatever," Naruto protested, trying to free his arm from the matron's grasp. The angry ghost that had backed him into the corner was grabbing at him, his fingers digging deep into his body, filling him with unnatural coldness. He shivered involuntarily.

"Of course, little one," she said absentmindedly, pulling him to his feet. "And now be a good boy and come to lunch." The ghost dug his claws deeper. Naruto screamed.

"What's wrong with you?" the matron asked, her temper hanging on a few last threads of her worn-out patience.

"He's wrong!" the child pointed at the angry spirit. From the woman's perspective he was pointing at thin air. "He's hurting me!"

"I told you already there's no-one here!" the woman finally snapped. Children's games were alright, but only if they knew when to stop.

"But there is!" the blue-eyed boy insisted. "And there's more of them!"

"So now there are more?" She sighed. "Well, whatever. Just forget your imaginary company and come in for the lunch."

"But they are real! I can prove it!" Naruto protested.

"Oh?" the woman replied not really paying attention to her charge anymore. There was a big plate with her name on it waiting inside and thanks to this troublemaker it was getting cold. "Then please do so."

"Yes!" the blond exclaimed enthusiastically. Finally he'd get somebody he could talk to about _them_. The other children only laughed at him when he tried, but this woman was different. "There's one always following behind you. He looks young and has red hair and he looks really sad." The matron didn't plan on actually listening to whatever the kid came up with, but the description caught her attention against her will. Could it be... Nah. No way. It was just a coincidence. There was no way the runt could possibly know. But his next words struck her like icy claws tightening around her heart. "He always speaks about you. That you used to be so cheerful and not to blame yourself for what happened. Hideyoshi wasn't your fault."

"And just what would you know about what happened!" she shrieked with tears in her eyes. How dare this sorry little wretch bring up the incident which took away the two people most precious to her? "You know nothing about me! Nothing about us!" Naruto tried to back off, suddenly scared, but she still had him in her grip. Speaking of which, her fingers were now digging into his flesh painfully. "Stop sprouting your nonsense and get inside already!" Naruto was now crying and trembling in fear, but she didn't care. How dare that little urchin remind her? She had moved all the way from Port City to Konoha to escape her memories. She had almost forgotten it, well, it now woke her from her sleep only every other night, and then he comes and speaks about it. What right did he have? And how did he know? There was no way he could know. There was only one possible explanation: This child was indeed cursed, just like all the villagers said.

"Get inside," she growled, throwing the miserable little thing towards the door. "And don't you ever dare bring up your nonsense again." Naruto nodded between sobs. It didn't go as well as he imagined. The only nice lady in the orphanage was now angry at him. And she stayed being angry. She never had a kind word for him again, instead treating him even worse than the others.

_._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._

So that was the reason telling Kakashi was completely out of the question. Living people didn't want to hear about their ghosts. He didn't want Kakashi to start hating him just like the lady, whose name he forgot, did. But what else should he do? What could he do? Before he could come up with an answer, the bedbound man spoke.

"Naruto?" The genin stiffened. "Who were you talking to?"

"Nobody," the blond replied hurriedly.

"_Who's nobody, you dolt!" _Obito screamed into his ear. It took all of Naruto's self-control not to wince at the volume.

"Really?" One silver eyebrow arched up. "Because it certainly sounded to me like you were talking to someone."

"And who would I be talking to?" he retorted.

"_Me! Me!" _Obito jumped up and down between them, completely invisible to one of them. Naruto wanted to hit him or yell at him, but couldn't.

"You tell me," the jounin inquired.

"I already told you I wasn't talking to anybody."

"Really?" One silver eyebrow nearly disappeared under the hitai-ate. "Because talking to yourself is a sign of insanity, you know?"

"I'm not insane," Naruto scowled.

"_Aren't you?"_ Obito raised an eyebrow in perfect imitation of Kakashi. Naruto couldn't help but chuckle. He quickly tried to cover it up with a cough, but the jounin wasn't fooled.

"And just what's so funny here?" he asked.

"Nothing!"

"First talking to yourself, then chuckling to yourself, hn, it doesn't look good for you, Naruto."

"What doesn't look good for me?" the genin inquired.

"You know, ninja must pass minimum sanity requirements to be allowed in the field? What if somebody was to examine you now?" Kakashi was speaking in light, joking tone, but his words cut Naruto deeply anyway. What if he really was kicked out of the shinobi forces?

"_Don't worry," _Obito tried to cheer him up. _"Kakashi passed and so did I."_ It utterly failed to reassure him.

"Hey, why are you so pale?" the silver-haired man asked.

"Me?" Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Pale? Why would I be pale? That must be the lack of light here."

"Aren't you denying it a bit too much?"

"No," the blond shook his head. "Why do you ask?"

"I think you do." Kakashi's single visible eye bore into him.

"I don't," the genin protested.

"_You do! You do!"_ Obito pointed him.

"You do," the jounin echoed his dead teammate. To Naruto it sounded entirely too creepy.

"I don't!" he shouted.

"So what were you doing then?"

"Nothing!"

"Were you perhaps practicing pickup lines for Sakura?" the silver-haired man joked.

"What?" The boy was shocked. "I'm not a pervert like you!"

"So what were you doing then?"

"Talking to myself," Naruto huffed. "Fine?"

"If you say so," Kakashi shrugged. "Bring me some water, I'm thirsty."

"Right on," Naruto nodded and hurried to the kitchen. He was immensely happy for the change of topic in conversation, but he knew he wasn't quite off the hook yet.

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*

In the morning the three genin gathered in their sensei's room. All of them were happy that the jounin had finally awoken. Especially Sakura looked ecstatic. Sasuke was trying to keep his usual disinterested face, but even he was visibly relieved.

"I'm so glad you're alright!" the kunoichi exclaimed. "Now I'm not so scared that the ninja will come back and kill us!"

"Relax, Sakura," Kakashi comforted her. "He's dead."

"I know but Naruto kept scaring us, telling that he wasn't," the pinkette complained.

"I checked it," the jounin replied. "I assure you he was dead."

"I assure you he wasn't," Naruto opposed.

"I checked his pulse," the masked man reminded him.

"So? That still isn't making absolutely sure," the orange-clad genin protested.

"Hey, Naruto," Kakashi spoke, "I understand that you are scared, but that's not a reason to scare your teammates as well."

"This isn't scaring anybody," Naruto disagreed. "This is doing everything in our power to make sure we don't get killed. Besides, even if he were dead, there's no guarantee there aren't more. From what I heard about this Gatou, he can afford it."

"Well, you're right on that one," their sensei agreed grudgingly. "I'd better make sure you're prepared for whoever comes next. After breakfast, we'll head to the woods for special training."

^!^!^!^!^!^!^!^!^!^!^!^!^!^!^!^!^!^!^!^!^!^!^!^!^!^

Kakashi sighed deeply as he observed his team from behind his orange book. He certainly didn't imagine this when he had introduced them to the tree-climbing exercise.

On the other end of the clearing, Sakura was sitting on a high tree branch, panting. That in itself wasn't surprising. Her chakra control had always been good, but her reserves were small, so she had to rest often. What was more surprising was that Naruto was able to do it as well. To Kakashi it looked like he had practiced it before. He had marched up the trunk with no problem on his first try, and though his feet sometimes slipped or the bark cracked, overall he was doing well. And then there was Sasuke.

It was obvious that the last Uchiha had never tried tree-walking before. His efforts weren't bad for a beginner, in fact, they were quite good, but still way behind the others. And if Sasuke couldn't stand something, it was being the last one in anything. It made him angry and anger caused his concentration to slip, hindering his progress, which in turn made him even angrier. It was a vicious circle and it didn't seem like the youth would find his way out anytime soon. Kakashi sighed. He could tell them something, but he doubted it would help. They had to work out their trouble on their own.

He turned his eye to the pages of his book. He got to the point when Kensei would meet Ryo unexpectedly after what followed his favorite scene, but today he couldn't enjoy reading the way he usually did. Instead his thoughts kept turning towards Naruto. There was something off about the boy, and it wasn't only the fact that he was much better then people believed. Such things sometimes happened.

What bothered him more was his overall behavior. The boy tended to stare off into space at random times, like he was watching something only he could see. Sometimes he seemed to listen to things only he could hear and react to who knows what. The conversation with thin air tonight was just the tip of the iceberg. Take for example his outburst in the Mission Room that had earned them this mission. What had prompted it? Somehow, Kakashi didn't believe it was Tora the Cat.

And what about the conversation this morning? Why was he so insistent that Zabuza wasn't dead? And why did it bother him so? He had checked that the Kiri nukenin was dead. Then the Hunter Nin had picked up his body and... Crap. The Hunter Nin had picked up his body. That wasn't standard procedure. He was supposed to destroy it on spot. But he didn't. With a sinking feeling, Kakashi realized that Naruto had been right. Zabuza wasn't dead. It made the jounin glad that he had started on the training so early.

He turned his attention back to the book. There was nothing he could do about it now. He couldn't even walk without his crutches and besides, if Zabuza had been in a state of false death, it would take him over a week to recover. For now, there was no reason to worry too much.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Naruto glanced to where Sasuke was struggling with his exercise. No matter how much fun it was to see the arrogant boy struggle, he could do without his dead clan cheering on him. And the absolutely murderous look Sasuke was giving him. It made him wonder whether it would be a good idea to go to sleep tonight. And then there were the looks Kakashi was giving him. Like he was waiting for him to do something weird. It unnerved him. He couldn't allow another slipup, not after last night. He was sure Kakashi was going to grill him about it later, so he made an extra effort of ignoring the insults from the Uchiha clan and jokes from Obito. And the deceased Kakashi's teammate was making an extra effort to make him crack.

Another fact that bothered him was that they had left Tazuna alone. It was true that with Kakashi unable to fight they would barely slow Zabuza down, but in case only his accomplice showed up, they might be able to make a difference. And there were always the thugs that became so common in the island country ever since Gatou took over. He had made a dozen of clones and sent them after the bridge builder, but in case something happened, they wouldn't be much help. They could only last so long and couldn't take any damage.

Then a rush of memories attacked him. One of his clones had just dispersed. His heart raced faster. Was Tazuna under attack? No, it was just an accident. He relaxed only to be awoken from his musings with sharp pain to his back. He picked himself up from the ground. He had completely lost his concentration and fell without even realizing it. Kakashi had been right when he insisted he was still far from mastering the skill.

"So the dobe finally fell," Sasuke sneered maliciously.

"Watch it, teme," Naruto retorted. "You have yet to climb halfway the trunk." The Uchiha's face twisted in anger and his dead entourage started screaming insults at the jinchuuriki. Naruto groaned inwardly. He really had to do something about them, the problem being that he had no idea what. He turned away and slowly walked up the trunk.

"Tell me how you do it," Sasuke demanded.

"So now the great Uchiha wants advice from the dead last?" Naruto asked mockingly. "What had the world come to?"

"Don't mess with me. Tell me."

"Are you sure? After all, I'm just a stupid loser who keeps falling. Why don't you asked Sakura instead?" The Last Uchiha scowled darkly.

"It's really easy, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura called cheerfully from where she was resting under her tree. It caused the dark-haired genin to scowl even fiercer. "You just gather the chakra in your feet and..."

"What do you think I'm doing!" Sasuke snapped. Sakura took a step back looking like she'd been hit.

"Sasuke-kun," she whispered. Her idol didn't answer. He turned around and attempted to climb the tree again, only to have the bark explode under his foot. He grimaced in pain and then tried again, this time more carefully. His foot stuck to the tree and he made next step. Three steps later his feet slipped and he had to jump down.

"Just concentrate on what are you doing, Sasuke-kun," Sakura advised him. Sasuke didn't answer, but his performance after this improved a bit.

Kakashi sighed as he watched the scene hidden behind his book. So his team's cooperation didn't improve a bit, but at least they didn't try to kill each other. Yet. _Minato-sensei, even we weren't possibly that bad, _he thought. _How did you ever put up with us? And how would you fare with them? They barely tolerate each other. _The silver-haired man grimly wondered how long his team was going to last. And how he would fare in the next battle backed up with a band that was as likely to attack each other as the enemy. The prospect looked grim. Better not to think about it too much. He turned his attention back to the book. It was much better to read about the mischief Kensei got himself into. Books were much better company then people. Especially since he was approaching the really juicy part.


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto.

**.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.**

**Through the Eyes of Death**

_.-=-._.-=-. _.-=-._.-=-._.-=-._.-=-._

The dinner was a tense affair. Naruto was staring at his food, occasionally stealing a glance at Kakashi, waiting for the man to bring up yesterday's night's conversation. The masked jounin was reading his book, covertly observing Naruto, waiting for him to do something weird. Sasuke was staring into his bowl angrily, brooding over today's training. Sakura was trying to cheer him up and failing miserably. Tsunami was trying to keep peace at the table. Tazuna was looking grim. Inari was absent.

"_I can't take it anymore!" _Obito shouted. _"How can you live in such a tense atmosphere? Hey, Naruto, if you didn't insist on keeping secrets, we could be much happier now."_ Naruto pretended he didn't hear him. Only Sasuke's dead entourage reminded him that it's unbefitting for an Uchiha to shout and Naruto winced a bit when one particularly vocal shouted it from right beside his ear. _Hypocrites, _he thought, but couldn't do anything about it.

Finally the dinner was eaten. It didn't take long, since there wasn't much to eat, and everybody retired to their rooms. Naruto was relieved until he realized he shared his room with Sasuke. The dark-haired genin was giving him dirty glares, obviously wanting to ask for some tips for tree-walking, but too proud to do so. And if one glaring Uchiha wasn't enough, his dead clansmen were doing the same.

Naruto decided to go for a walk. Maybe if he was lucky the Uchiha would fall asleep before he came back. Sasuke was tired from the training, so that was quite likely. But luck wasn't on his side today and he ran into Kakashi.

"Hello, Naruto," the jounin greeted.

"Hello, sensei," the genin replied.

"So are you ready to resume our talk from yesterday?" No. There was no way Naruto was ready.

"There's nothing to talk about," he stated.

"_I'm not nothing! Just tell him already so we can quit this awkwardness!"_ Naruto had no intention to head his advice.

"I think there is," the masked jounin insisted.

"Well, I don't think so," the blond genin snapped back.

"_I told you I'm not nothing!" _Obito screamed, now clearly irritated. Naruto shot him an angry glance. Kakashi noticed that his student's eyes locked on a seemingly empty spot. He realized it wasn't the first time he saw him doing so. In fact, the blond did it quite often. He was determined to find out what it could mean.

"I know you're hiding something, Naruto," he stated.

"I'm not," the boy protested.

"It's bad to keep secrets from your teammates," he reminded him.

"Everybody here keeps secrets. We're ninja after all," the orange-clad genin pointed out.

"But teammates should trust each other," Kakashi countered.

"Says the man who refused to give any information on our team's introduction," Naruto deadpanned.

"You weren't officially confirmed a team back then. Now you are," the silver-haired jounin pointed out.

"So what am I supposed to do?" the orange-clad boy scratched his head. "Tell them a certain S-class secret that can get them executed if they accidentally slip it up? I won't endanger them that way."

Kakashi had to admit that Naruto got him with this one. But he wasn't about to give up so easily.

"But this isn't your only secret," he stated.

"Maybe, maybe not," the jinchuuriki shrugged. "But I'm allowed to have secrets, just as you do."

"So you do have another secret?" the one-eyed man prodded.

"I never said that," Naruto replied.

"You didn't have to," Kakashi responded. "You realize you'll have to tell eventually?"

"I don't think so." The genin stood his ground.

"Well, I think so."

"Don't you have some porn to read?" Naruto tried to change the topic.

"I always do, but it can wait for the moment," Kakashi deflected the attack.

"Then you'll wait for a very long time," the blond remarked.

"Is that so?" Kakashi's only visible eyebrow disappeared under his hitai-ate. "You know, Naruto, that teams that can't cooperate well can be dissolved? And what would happen then?"

"I'm not the one who has the biggest trouble with teamwork," the jinchuuriki pointed out.

"True," the jounin-sensei admitted, "but whoever is at fault, everybody suffers."

"Don't I know it," the student remarked sagely.

"Remember, Naruto, everybody on the team is required to do everything they can to make the team work," Kakashi chastised him.

"_So tell them already!"_Obito demanded. Once again he was completely ignored.

"Yes."

"So don't forget about it." And with that the jounin left. Naruto remained standing in the hallway. Kakashi's words sounded hypocritical to him. He was doing everything he could to make Team 7 work. He wasn't giving his teammates a reason to consider him a freak. What else was he supposed to do?

Naruto knew he should go to sleep, but he couldn't. He didn't have the strength to face Sasuke and his dead relatives right now. Instead he left the building and headed into the forest. He wandered around aimlessly for hours, until tiredness began to set. He knew he should return to the house, but he didn't want to face its occupants. Instead he settled down on a soft patch of grass and fell asleep.

/./././././././././././././././././././././././././

Naruto's eyes snapped open. Some instinct warned him of approaching danger. He quickly scanned his surroundings for the cause of the alarm. There was nothing that seemed dangerous, only a young girl with a basked of flowers was standing on the opposite side of the clearing and a silent ghost of a similar-looking woman trailing behind her. Then he realized that if the girl really was a civilian, he would have heard her coming from a mile away. Then he took a closer look at her soul and realized he had seen her before: She was Zabuza's accomplice.

He took in a quick breath. He cursed himself for not returning to the house. Nothing his teammates and Kakashi-sensei could throw at him was as bad as facing a possibly very powerful enemy without backup. He was wracking his brain for something to do, but he came empty.

"You'll catch a cold sleeping in such place," the enemy kunoichi spoke in a kind tone. It was completely out of character for somebody he was fighting a couple of days before, but Naruto couldn't find any sign of deception in her voice. But that didn't mean he trusted her. In his book, it equaled only to her being that good. He decided to play along for the time being.

"Oh, it takes more than that to put me down," he grinned.

"Really?" she asked. "You do seem to be cold."

"It's nothing," he shrugged. "I'm used to worse." _Like that time my landlord switched off the heating in the middle of winter and somebody broke the window. _But he didn't say such things aloud. He never did and he wouldn't begin for an enemy.

"If you say so," she replied, "but it doesn't make it alright. What are you doing out here anyway?"

What was he supposed to say? She already knew he was an enemy ninja, but she didn't know he knew who she was. So what about trying some misdirection? Only, which direction should he misdirect her? Should he try to bluff and make himself seem stronger or should he downplay his abilities? Well, they probably already knew he was no jounin, so he'd make them underestimate him. Fortunately he had loads of experience with that. His face brightened into a wide grin.

"Training," he answered. "I'm a super-awesome ninja!" _Did I really just say that? Tazuna must be rubbing off on me._

"Really? That's awesome. I've never met a real ninja before." _Liar._ Naruto took it as a cue to "boast" about his "abilities."

"Yes!" he boasted. "Kakashi-sensei made us do some super-secret training that will make us much stronger in no time! Do you want to see?"

"I may?" she inquired with wide-eyed curiosity. _If she weren't a ninja, she could have made star carrier as an actress._

"Yes! Watch!" He ran up a tree but after six steps he made a deliberate mistake and fell on his backside. "Well," he grinned sheepishly rubbing his sore bottom, "I still have some more training to do." The girl was trying hard to suppress her giggles.

"You're doing great," she said. "I wish I could do something like that." _I bet you already can._

"So what are you doing here so early in the morning?" he asked.

"Picking herbs," she answered. "I need medicine for a friend of mine who is ill." _And I know who the friend is and what's wrong with him, _he thought.

"That's terrible," he said. "I hope your friend will get better soon."

"He will," she assured him. "He's a strong one and this medicine is really great."

"That's good." _But not for us._ "Can I help you?"

"Sure. Do you see any more of these flowers around?" She showed him a blossom from her basket.

"I think I saw some," he replied. "Now where it was? That way, I think." _Maybe I can slip something poisonous into her basket. But she would probably notice. And which ones are poisonous anyway? This is different from the plants growing near Konoha. No matter, maybe slipping her any wrong herb would delay Zabuza's recovery a bit._

They gathered herbs in silence for a while, the only interruption being when the kunoichi told Naruto that he was trying to give her the wrong flower. And he wasn't even trying; he had honestly thought it was the correct one. _There goes my master plan, _the boy thought. But he wasn't too disappointed. He never really thought it would work.

"Why are you training so hard?" she suddenly asked.

"What?" he replied taken aback.

"Why are you trying so much?" she rephrased her question. "What drives you forward?" She seemed honestly interested in his answer. Naruto couldn't fathom why. She was the enemy, wasn't she? She was working for Zabuza. Or did he get the situation wrong and she wasn't their foe after all? He decided it didn't really matter. He couldn't take the risk. He settled on giving her one of his standard speeches.

"Because I want to become stronger!"

"But you already are pretty strong," she pointed out. He had no idea how she came to the conclusion. He hadn't shown much strength or skills in front of her.

"But I want to become even stronger!"

"Why is that?" she inquired.

"So I can become the strongest ninja in our village! I'll make everyone acknowledge my strength! And I also want to prove something to someone," he added as an afterthought. She watched him with a strange look in her eyes. He had the feeling that his answer didn't satisfy her. Once again, he was reminded that he was facing a strong enemy ninja and any misstep may cost his life.

"Is that for someone else? Or for yourself?" she questioned.

"Huh?" He had no idea what she wanted to hear, and he had the feeling that a wrong answer would have grave consequences, so he went with his standard response for such situations: play dumb. She chuckled.

"What's so funny?" he asked.

"Do you have someone important to you?" The look in her eyes let him know that she did. _So that's what she wants to hear._ He didn't say anything. Her faraway expression revealed that she was lost in her memories and wouldn't appreciate being disturbed.

"When a person has something important to protect, that's when they can become truly strong," she spoke. Naruto had heard the philosophy before, namely from the Old Man. It made him reflect on his life and think about who was so important to him. Then he shook himself. He should be thinking about getting out of his predicament in one piece, he could muse on his friends later.

"Yeah," he grinned, "I understand that very well."

She stood up and picked her basked, now filled with the herbs.

"You will become strong. Let's meet again somewhere."

"Sure!" he called. _I'll bring Kakashi along. _He watched her walk away, relieved that he had survived the encounter unscatched. Then she suddenly turned and called over her shoulder.

"Oh, and by the way, I'm a boy."

"What?"

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

As soon as he was sure that the girl, eh... boy, was gone, Naruto ran back to Tazuna's house. He found Kakashi in the front yard, performing simple exercises designed to get his body into fighting condition as soon as possible.

"Kakashi-sensei!" he shouted.

"Where's the fire, Naruto?" the one-eyed man asked.

"I met him!" he exclaimed breathlessly.

"Who?" the jounin inquired lazily.

"That boy who helped Zabuza!"

"Really?" The masked man was on his feet in an eyeblink. "Tell me all about it." So Naruto did. Kakashi listened with a frown.

"That's all nice, but how did you know it was Zabuza's helper?" he asked.

"I recognized him," the orange-clad genin answered.

"How?" the one-eyed ninja questioned. "He was wearing a mask and a completely different clothes back then."

"But it wasn't enough to fool me," Naruto stated. "There was still his voice, his body and his movements."

"The voice is changed by the mask, the clothes hide the body and you didn't have the chance to watch him for long before he disappeared," Kakashi pointed out. "This isn't enough to be sure it was the same person."

"But I know it's him," the genin insisted.

"_You know, it would__ be easier if you just told him," _Obito suggested.

"Do you?" the silver-haired man raised an eyebrow. "Or do you just want to make yourself look more important?" That stung. Did Kakashi really think so lowly of him? He was tempted to just leave and wash his hands on the whole business, but he couldn't. They were stuck in the middle of enemy territory and the survival of him and his teammates depended on what he would do now.

"Look, if I meet a person once, I can always recognize them again," he explained. "And that was definitely Zabuza's little helper."

"How do you do it?" the jounin questioned.

"What?" the genin blinked.

"Recognize the people you meet." Suddenly Naruto realized that Kakashi wasn't watching him with disbelief, but genuine interest. It was that moment when he realized he had been maneuvered into a corner. He could either tell or look like an ass. He didn't like either option.

"It's kinda like an extra sense," he answered.

"_Oh no__," _Obito groaned, _"are you going to talk your way out of confessing again? This is getting old."_

"What extra sense?"

"_Just tell him," _the goggled Uchiha suggested, but Naruto still wasn't ready for that.

"I can see, kind of an aura of the person," he explained. "It cannot be masked or altered."

"_You really should tell him."_

"Really?" Kakashi raised an eyebrow. He had the feeling that his student still wasn't being completely sincere. "You can see chakra? Like the Byakugan or the Sharingan?"

"No, it isn't chakra," Naruto shook his head. "This is different."

"Why didn't you say so earlier?" the masked ninja inquired. "Such ability must be useful."

"People already think I'm strange," the orange-clad genin replied.

"_Why don't __you tell him? I'm tired of this,"_ Obito complained.

"Why do you care? I don't care about people that don't like me reading Icha-Icha in public," Kakashi replied.

"Pervert," Naruto scowled.

"And proud of it," the notorious porn reader smiled.

"_I'm going to haunt you until you tell!"_

"So what are we going to do?"

"What can we do that we aren't doing already?" Kakashi shrugged. "We keep our guard up and train, train and then train some more."

"_Hey! Don't change the subject! Tell Kakashi so I can have some choice words with him!"_

"So what should I train?"

"Didn't I show you the Tree-walking?" the jounin-sensei asked with mild annoyance.

"I can already do that," Naruto pouted.

"There's always room for improvement." Kakashi replied.

"And how is it going to help me in battle? Can't you show me some useful jutsu?" the student demanded.

"You need control first before attempting it," the jounin answered. "And if you think you're done Tree walking, try Water walking. And once you mastered it, try your Pushing Hand and see how it improved."

Naruto thanked his sensei and left.

"_And what about telling him?"_ Obito shouted, but the blond genin ignored him completely. He made a habit of it lately, much to the Uchiha's chagrin. He was in a bad mood. How was he supposed to fight when his sensei refused to teach him how? But to be fair to Kakashi, the jounin still had trouble moving. So what was he supposed to do? Well, there was a jutsu he had been working on so he might resume his attempts.

=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=

The following days were mostly uneventful. Every morning Naruto made clones and sent them to the bridge with Tazuna. Then the team headed to the forest for their training. Sasuke's tree-climbing skills improved greatly, especially after Sakura covertly gave him a few tips, thinking it would earn her his favor. Naruto with a couple of clones was working on honing his tree-walking and water-walking skills, though he achieved little improvement. He suspected that this might be the limit of his chakra control, but he wasn't giving up. His work on the Water Spike jutsu, as he decided to call it, was progressing better. After several days he was able to make the water rise quickly and make the point sharp, though he still wasn't sure how much damage this would do to an enemy ninja, who can block quickly. He also kept an eye for the girlish boy, but he didn't show up again.

The work on the bridge was progressing nicely and Tazuna had only words of praise for Naruto's clones, whose performance at the construction site improved greatly thanks to all the experience. And then the bridge was almost finished.

"They will attack tomorrow," Kakashi announced during dinnertime. "It's the last day they can prevent the completion of the bridge. And it's been long enough for Zabuza to regain his strength."

"What about you, sensei?" Sakura asked fearfully.

"I'm back at hundred percent, so you don't have to worry," the Copy Nin assured them.

"So what's the plan for tomorrow?"

"Why bother with plans when you're going to die?" Inari asked. It was one of the rare occasions they got to see the boy. He was usually off somewhere sulking, and when he showed up, he glared at them darkly.

"Inari!" Tsunami scolded him. "I already told you not to say such things in front of our guests! You know they are helping us!"

"It doesn't matter. They are going to die anyway," the child repeated.

"Apologize now!" the lady of the house commanded.

"No," the boy snapped and bolted from the room. Naruto jumped to his feet and followed him.

"Where are you going?" Sakura asked.

"To talk to him," he answered. "This can't go on."

Locating the depressed youngster was easy. Inari was sitting in his room, staring at the torn picture of Kaiza and crying. The ghost of his stepfather was standing above him, looking sad. The moment Naruto entered, he turned to him.

"_Please help him," _he begged. _"I can't bear to see him like this." _Naruto smiled reassuringly. He knelt down and laid a hand on Inari's shoulder. The boy flinched.

"Easy there," the young genin smiled. "I want to help you."

"Well, I don't want your help," Tazuna's grandson scowled.

"Well, that's too bad for you, because you are going to get it anyway." Inari's scowl deepened.

"You don't know anything."

"I do," Naruto disagreed. "I know what happened to your father. Gatou is going to pay."

"You can't do anything about Gatou," the boy sighed defeated. "He's too strong."

"How do you know it?" the ninja questioned. "Because Kaiza couldn't stop him?"

"Everybody said he was a hero. But he couldn't do anything. There are no heroes." Inari's voice was devoid of all hope. Kaiza's spirit was watching him sadly.

"Don't believe that," Naruto chided. "There is always hope."

"You're stupid." Inari insisted.

"No. You're the stupid one," the orange-clad genin disagreed. "Just because one man fell you gave up already? That's cowardice." The younger boy appeared hurt by this, but it wasn't enough to sway him.

"At least I'm alive," he replied. "You are going to die."

"Well, you are alive," the blond agreed, "But what a wonderful life you have, always sulking, brooding and crying in your room."

"You don't know anything!"

"I know enough," the demon-vessel disagreed. "Do you really think you are the only one who is miserable? No. I've been there too. But I didn't give up. I fought the fate and my life got better."

"And now it's going to end," Inari repeated stubbornly.

"Why are you so convinced we are going to fail?" Naruto questioned. "Just because Kaiza did?"

"So-called hero couldn't do anything," the child said forlornly.

"And do you know why he failed?" the older boy asked.

"Because Gatou is just too strong," Inari answered.

"No," Naruto shook his head. "Because he was alone. He tried to stop Gatou alone, while the other people waited for their hero to save them. But guess what? You can't just sit around waiting for a hero to come. If you want to be saved, you have to become the hero yourself!"

Inari didn't answer. He sat there with a shocked expression on his face.

"Think about it, kid," Naruto said turning to leave. Before he walked out of the door, he heard Kaiza say _"Thank you."_


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto.

**Through the Eyes of Death**

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

The morning dawned bright and clear. In Naruto's opinion it was entirely inappropriate for a day of bloodshed. It was supposed to be overcast or stormy but no, the sky was blue without a single cloud and the sun was shining merrily, the flowers were blooming and the birds were singing like there was nothing wrong. But then he thought that if he should die today, he'd rather have his last memories be of a pleasant scenery, instead of something from a horror story. So maybe good weather was appropriate for battles after all.

The breakfast was eaten in silence. All the plans for today had been decided yesterday, so there was no more need for discussion. After the plates had been cleaned, a somber procession left the house and headed for the bridge. Everybody was tense, anticipating an attack at any moment. But nothing happened. In Naruto's opinion the waiting was even worse than the battle itself.

Then they arrived at the bridge. Thick mist was obscuring it from view.

"Kirigakure no Jutsu," Kakashi said. He didn't have to. Everybody in the group recognized it right away.

Naruto had thought that the waiting had been bad, but now it became even worse. Now they knew they were going to be attacked any minute. They slowly made their way into the mist. Tazuna was sweating and looked ready to bolt, but he walked stubbornly forward. They soon found the bodies of the construction workers. Tazuna stood still.

"I didn't want that..." he whispered.

"Long time no see, Kakashi," Zabuza's voice came from the mist.

"_We still can't see you!" _Obito pointed out.

"You three, protect Tazuna," Kakashi said. The three genin immediately assumed their assigned position around the client.

"That won't be enough," Zabuza commented. "You should already know that."

"It will be enough if I kill you first," the Konoha jounin stated. Zabuza chuckled.

"Confident, aren't we? But you'll see that a Swordsman of the Hidden Mist doesn't go down that easily."

"Let's put it to test, shan't we?" Kakashi retorted.

"Very well, Copycat," the Kiri nukenin agreed. "Come on."

There was a sudden movement in the mist and then Zabuza appeared, his giant zanbato heading straight for Kakashi's neck. The masked man dodged under it and tried to stab a kunai into Zabuza's stomach. The Kiri nukenin jumped back and readied his sword for another attack. Kakashi pursued him. Soon both combatants disappeared in the mist.

The three genin strained their senses to discern how the fight was going. They couldn't see anything, they could only hear the occasional sound of footsteps, clash of steel or the slap of flesh accompanied with a grunt. Nothing to indicate who was winning.

Then Naruto noticed movement in the fog.

"Duck!" he shouted and dragged Tazuna to the ground. It was in the nick of time. Senbon flew through the air, narrowly missing them. Naruto felt one ruffle his hair, but fortunately it didn't scratch his head.

"Very good," a familiar voice called form the mist. "Not many people are able to dodge that."

"You haven't seen anything," he called into the mist confidently. He decided to reinforce the image Haku had made of him.

"The same goes for you," Zabuza's accomplice replied evenly. "Please, step away from Tazuna and you won't be harmed."

"No," Naruto replied firmly.

"Don't die for me, kid," Tazuna said, pale shaking and sweating. "I'm an old man."

"I can't do that," the blond shook his head. "Once I said I would protect you so I will. I'm not running from any fight!"

"As you wish," Haku said in a monotone voice, but Naruto thought he caught a hint of regret in it. He had no time to ponder over it. More senbon came flying at him.

.-^-._.-^-._.-^-._.-^-._.-^-._.-^-._.-^-.

Inari was sitting in his room, staring at the only picture of Kaiza he hadn't torn apart and mulled over yesterday's conversation.

"_Don't wait for a hero to save you, if you want to be saved, become the hero."_It sounded so good, but... How could he become a hero? He was just a little boy. He wasn't big and strong like Kaiza or skilled and daring like the three genin guarding his grandfather. He would never dare to jump into raging waters to repair the breaking dam, much less fight against a man twice his size. He would only get killed and help nobody. There was no point in trying.

But Naruto sounded so convincing. He was out there, maybe even now fighting against Gatou's men. He envisioned him tearing through the endless hordes of Gatou's minions like a giant orange blade, thugs falling left and round, but new ones always took their places and attacked the boy with new vigor, he's cutting them down too, but there's no end to them, he's tiring, he's making mistakes, he's bleeding, then he's falling down and the mobsters descent upon him like the vultures on a fresh corpse.

Inari sighed. It was hopeless. Gatou was just too strong, his men too numerous. No matter how many you cut down, there will always be more to stab your back the moment you falter. Tears welled in his eyes. He so wanted to believe that everything was going to be right, but he couldn't. Harsh reality had taught him otherwise. Unbeknownst to him, Kaiza's ghost was also crying, but for entirely different reasons.

There was a sudden crash from downstairs followed by a scream. Inari shot up.

"Mom!" he exclaimed. All of his musings forgotten, he ran down the stairs. He paused near the entrance to the kitchen. Two thugs were inside, one of them holding a sword to his mother's neck.

.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.

The battle wasn't going overly well for them, but at least nobody was seriously wounded yet. They had no idea how the fight between Kakashi and Zabuza was going, but at their front it looked like Haku was only playing with them.

The moment Haku's silhouette first became visible in the mist, Sasuke charged after him. Naruto shouted at him to wait, but the Uchiha ignored him completely. Naruto hadn't expected anything else, but it would have been nice to be wrong just once.

Sasuke engaged Haku on his own. It soon became apparent that Zabuza's helper was more adept at taijutsu than The Last Uchiha. And to add insult to injury Haku managed to throw senbon at Sasuke, and though the dark-haired genin didn't look like a pincushion yet, he was rapidly approaching the state. He knew he had to interfere soon, or else they were screwed.

He waited for an opportunity. He didn't have to wait long before one presented itself. Sasuke tried to impale Haku on his kunai and the feminine boy jumped back, but as he landed his foot slipped a bit on the wet surface. It wasn't much, but it was enough. Naruto shot forward, kunai in hand, aiming at Haku's kidneys. The older boy noticed it and tried to twist away, but he was already unbalanced and the movement was slower than usual. Yet he would have avoided the strike, but Naruto threw the kunai, propelling it with his Te Oshi no Jutsu. He hadn't really practiced the maneuver before, it was a spur-of-the-moment idea, but it worked nicely. The kunai shot forward and carved a deep gash into Haku's side.

The masked boy hissed in pain. The wound wasn't crippling, but it still hurt. And the Uchiha was upon him again, slashing with his kunai. He took a scratch on his forearm. It looked like it was the time to take the fight up a notch. He jumped back and joined his hands in a series of seals. Four water clones materialized around him and attacked the duo of Konoha genin.

Naruto cursed. Fighting one opponent had been bad, but five were much worse. Fortunately the real Haku withdrew into the background and let his clones do all the fighting. And fortunately the clones had only one tenth of the original's strength.

Sasuke got lucky and managed to stab one's shoulder with his kunai, making it turn back into water. Seeing this, Naruto felt a boost of confidence. He pretended to attack the clone on his right. The doppelganger dodged and its partner went after Naruto's unprotected back. It was exactly what the blond genin expected. He kicked, catching the clone on its thigh. This is itself wouldn't have been enough to dispel it, but Naruto channeled chakra to his foot like he would do when tree-walking, but this time he didn't worry about chakra control. If it were wood under his foot, splinters would be flying everywhere. The clone only exploded into a million of water droplets. Naruto didn't even bother to suppress a smile.

The other clone noticed his distraction and was quick to capitalize on it. Naruto's smile was disrupted by a fist suddenly landing on his face. The orange-clad genin stumbled back. Haku's clone followed up with a foot aimed at his midsection. Naruto recovered his balance, avoided the foot narrowly and tried to grab it, but the clone withdrew it too swiftly. They exchanged blows for a while, neither gaining an upper hand. Then Sasuke joined the fight and dispelled the clone with a kunai to his back.

"Can't you do anything without help?" he jibed. Before Naruto could answer, Haku spoke from the mist.

"Impressive, you dispatched my clones without taking any damage. It appears I'll have to take this up another notch." Sasuke clasped his hands together in seals.

"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu." He breathed a fireball in the direction Haku's voice was coming from.

"Impressive indeed," the masked boy spoke from behind. Sasuke's eyes widened. How did he move so fast? "But this is as far as you go. Hyouton: Makyou Hyoushou."

The air around them suddenly became chilly. Something began to take form around them. A moment later they could see that it were mirrors. They were surrounded by a dome formed of ice mirrors. Then Haku's image appeared in all of them at once.

"And now," he spoke, "it's time to end this fight."

.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.

Inari didn't even think of his next action. He grabbed the broom standing near the kitchen entrance and charged at the men with a fierce war cry. The men turned towards him. Inari swung the broom, but found his makeshift weapon blocked with a sword. The next thing he knew a foot slammed into his stomach and sent him crashing into the wall.

"Look what we have here, Waraji," the shorter one drawled.

"It looks like a brat, Zouri," the bigger one-eyed man holding Tsunami responded.

"Gatou said we need only one hostage, so what are we going to do with him?" the empty-handed asked reaching for the hilt of his katana.

"Cut off his little head?" the big thug suggested.

"Nah," Zouri shook his head, "that's too boring. I say we disembowel him."

"No!" Tsunami shouted. She had been listening to the thugs talking with growing horror. "If you hurt him, I'll bite my tongue and bleed out! You can't use a dead hostage, can you?"

By that time Inari got back to his feet, picked his discarded broom and charged again. The hopelessness of his action didn't even cross his mind. His only thought was about his mother being in trouble and that he was the only one who could save her. Unfortunately one little boy with a stick against two big men with swords is still bad odds, no matter his determination. Zouri side-stepped his attack and grabbed the broom handle and pulled. Inari was sent sprawling and lost his grip on his makeshift weapon. Zouri grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and lifted him into the air.

"So the little puppy wants to play with the big dogs?" he asked mockingly. "The puppy should have waited to grow teeth before trying so." Inari tried to kick him, but it had little effect on the mercenary. "You'd have to try harder than that," Zouri mocked him.

"Hey, Zouri, we don't have the whole day," Waraji reminded him.

"Too bad," the shorter man grimaced. "I wanted to have more fun."

"Yeah, me too," the one-eyed mercenary replied, "but we don't want Gatou angry, do we?"

"No," Zouri agreed. "Let's go."

The two thugs dragged their captives out of the house, ignoring Inari's protests.

!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!

"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" Sasuke called again, firing a huge fireball at the prison holding them captive. It had absolutely no effect. Even the air remained chilly.

"My ice doesn't melt so easily," Haku informed them. "No-one has ever broken out of this technique." Sasuke tried again, with the same result. Naruto punched one mirror using his Te Oshi no Jutsu. There wasn't a single crack in the surface.

"I told you it was useless," the masked boy repeated.

Naruto stopped to think. If the mirrors were really too tough to break, then they'll have to go after Haku directly. But where was he? Ah, there. A quick look around revealed the boy's soul in the mirror directly above them. Naruto had to give it to him, he chose a good place to hide. Most people wouldn't think to attack the top of the dome, opting instead for the sides, like he and Sasuke just did.

Naruto jumped and punched the mirror with all his might. It had absolutely no effect. Not even a scratch appeared in the smooth surface and Haku was also unaffected. And he wasn't in the topmost mirror anymore. But how did it happen? Naruto didn't see him moving. Before he could try to locate the Kiri boy again, Haku attacked. Senbon needles flew through the air and Naruto was hard-pressed to dodge. Another salvo followed shortly. Soon dodging was all they could do.

.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.

Inari was on the verge of despair, as the men dragged him and his mother along the road to the bridge. He had tried his best to stop them; he had tried to be a hero and failed. Was it true that there were no heroes or was it only him who was too weak? Was there any point in fighting? But his mother had saved him. Even if she couldn't fight the thugs, she had managed to convince them to leave him alive. _For the time being, _a part of his brain pointed out. Then it proceeded to supply him with vivid images of his possible future. Most of them were based on Kaiza's gruesome fate. He shrugged. He didn't want to end up like that. Dying in battle was better. But he was still scared. The two men with swords holding them captive presented too big an obstacle to try anything. But doing nothing was equally as terrifying. Every step brought them closer to their destination. So what was he to do?

Suddenly there was a flash of movement, followed by a gurgle. He twisted in Zouri's arms and saw Waraji falling to the ground, a kunai embedded in his neck. Behind him stood Naruto, already turning to charge at the other mercenary. But Zouri wasn't idle. He drew his katana and swung at the genin. He was fast, faster then was to be expected in a mere mercenary. The blade would have cut deep into Naruto's stomach, but Inari slammed into the man with all his might. The thug lost his balance and the blade lost its course, only the tip making a shallow gash on Naruto's hip. A few drops of blood flowed out of it before Naruto poofed out of existence.

_We're doomed, _was the only thought in Inari's head. Without the ninja to protect them, the surviving mercenary would cut them into pieces. Zouri turned to him with a bloodthirsty expression and the boy took a step back. _So this is it, _he thought. He couldn't see anything that might get him through this situation, he even doubted he would have been able to act even if he knew how.

Then Zouri's expression turned to one of surprise. Blood flowed from his neck and he raised a hand to touch it. Then he collapsed to the ground, revealing the figure of Tsunami standing behind him. Tazuna's daughter had grabbed Waraji's katana and swung it with all her strength. There was nothing she wouldn't do for her son. But as she saw Zouri's body still, she was horrified with what she had done. She had just killed somebody. Sure, he was a criminal, but he was still a human being.

"Mommy!" Inari cried. "Are you alright?" She shook herself out of her stupor.

"Yes," she answered. Her boy was alright, and that meant she was alright too. She wouldn't regret her deed anymore. She did it to save her son and that was all that mattered. She dropped the bloody sword and hugged him. For a while, they stayed like that, unmoving. Then suddenly Inari jerked.

"Grandfather!" he yelled in panic.

"What?" Tsunami asked.

"They're attacking him too! We have to do something!"

For the first time in years, Kaiza's ghost smiled.

*._.*._.*._.*._.*._.*._.*._.*._.*._.*._.*._.*._.*._.*._.*._.*._.*

Naruto cursed. He had just received the memories of his dispelled clone. He hadn't wanted to waste too much of his energy before the fight began, so he left only two clones behind to guard Tsunami and Inari and one of them got dispelled by accident. The two thugs had an easy time sneaking around the other one. And now even that was destroyed and there was still one mercenary with a sword left. He didn't estimate the chances of Tazuna's family as high.

In retrospect, he had been an idiot. Taking hostages was the most obvious tactic. It really should have occurred to him, but he didn't see Zabuza as the type to use it, no, the Swordsman would much prefer a direct confrontation, but Gatou operated on completely different principles. And their ultimate enemy was Gatou, not Zabuza, which he had completely forgotten. Just because they hadn't faced any of his minions beside the two Kiri nukenin, it didn't mean he didn't have them. And now Inari and Tsunami were paying for his negligence. He had to get out of here and help them as soon as possible.

Unfortunately the 'getting out of here' part was proving to be harder than he had imagined. They had thrown everything they could at the mirrors, but neither his Te Oshi, masses of Kage Bunshin or Sasuke's Goukakyuu managed to as much as dent it. And Haku was moving between the mirrors faster than the eye could see and kept showering them with senbon. Naruto had to wonder where did he keep so many of them. The two Konoha genin were already resembling pincushions and the barrage showed no sign of slowing down.

"He's slowing down," Sasuke muttered. Naruto glanced at him in surprise. He hadn't noticed any decrease in Haku's speed. "I can almost intercept him now."

"Do you have an idea?" the blond genin asked.

"You flush him out and I hit him," the Uchiha said simply. Naruto nodded. It wasn't much of a plan, but it was better than nothing. He quickly located the original Haku. A handseal later a swarm of clones appeared around him and they charged madly forward. Zabuza's helper dispelled half of them with his needles before they could come closer, but there were too many of them. He leapt out of the mirror to avoid the brunt of the attack. Sasuke jumped after him, but his fist missed him narrowly. The dark-haired boy grimaced a bit, but he wasn't too disappointed. He could see the Ice user a bit better this time. And Naruto had already prepared another batch of clones to try it again.

They repeated the tactics three more times and every time Sasuke got closer to his elusive target. It was like the masked boy was slowing down, no, everything around him was slowing down, but it still wasn't enough to catch him.

Upon their fourth attempt, the world suddenly became much clearer. He could suddenly see perfectly well where the enemy was going, even before he did. He launched with his fist and hit the fake Hunter nin in the shoulder. The older boy fell to the ground, missing the mirror he had intended to enter. Sasuke was upon him in an instant, Naruto only a fraction of second behind.

Haku found himself hard-pressed to avoid any serious damage. He had never before fought against so many enemies at close range. The clones dispelled with every hit, but there were always new ones to take their place. He had to do something quickly or he was dead meat. He concentrated on the Uchiha. He was the only one he was sure was the real thing. But he was also the hardest one to hit. He knew why it was so: those spinning red eyes of his. The Sharingan, the same thing Kakashi had used to defeat Master Zabuza. He could predict his every move as soon as he thought about it.

But Haku didn't survive for so long on the run by being weak of heart or stupid. One of the reasons Zabuza-sama valued him so much was his intelligence and ability to correctly analyze any situation. It allowed him to find a way out of this mess.

He grabbed the wrist of one of Naruto's clones and flung him into the Uchiha. Most of the action happened outside of Sasuke's field of vision, so he was blindsided by the attack. He was thrown back. Haku wasted no time and kicked one of Naruto's clones so hard it dispelled. Then he sprung to his feet and jumped into the closest mirror. He barely made it, Sasuke was on his feet again and chasing after him. But once in the safety of his mirrors, there was nothing the two trapped genin could do to him.

"You are good," he told them, "but now it's time to end this." Senbon flew from his hands with more speed and force than before. Naruto tried to stop them by forming a wall of Kage Bunshin around them, but the projectiles destroyed them faster than he could create them. Sasuke tried to catch the masked ninja again, but Haku increased his speed to his limits and narrowly avoided him. He hit him with a senbon for his trouble.

Both Naruto and Sasuke realized that the situation had just gone form bad to worse. Their opponent stopped fooling around and was now seriously trying to kill them. And both of them were fresh out of ideas. They would need a miracle to survive.

Then Naruto glimpsed where the real Haku was and jumped at him. But the Hyouton user was too fast and he was gone before Naruto crossed half the distance.

"Watch out!" Sasuke's voice shouted and then something heavy slammed into him. He rolled on the ground and quickly jumped to his feet. Then he noticed Sasuke lying on the ground, several senbon sticking from his neck.


	15. Chapter 15

**A.N.:** Sorry this update took so long. I suffered the Chronical Lack of Inspiration Syndrome while writing it. I'm feeling more inspired to write the next chapter, so it shouldn't take as long.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto.

**Through the Eyes of Death**

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Naruto froze. He realized that the senbon had been meant for him. Sasuke had saved him and now he was lying on the ground, the light slowly disappearing from his eyes.

"Sasuke, why?" he whispered. The Last Uchiha had never liked him. At times, he was downright hostile. And now he took a blow for him? He couldn't understand it.

"I don't know, dobe," the Uchiha answered. "My body moved on its own." Then his eyes closed and he slumped, unmoving. Naruto could see he wasn't dead, but he wasn't sure how long it would last. Judging from the deceased Uchiha clan panicking all around him, there probably wasn't much time.

"_My baby!" _Mikoto wailed. _"My poor baby!"_

"_It's your fault!" _Fugaku accused Naruto. _"If you weren't completely incompetent, my son wouldn't have to save you!"_ The orange-clad genin didn't need his screeching to blame himself. He felt there should have been something he could do, but didn't. After all the training he did he should have been stronger than this, able to do something, but he wasn't. And now Sasuke was lying dying at his feet and Inari and Tsunami might be already dead.

"To jump into the blow without flinching, to protect a precious person knowing it was a trap, he is a shinobi that deserves respect," Haku spoke. "Is that your first death of a friend? Such is the way of the shinobi." That was something Naruto knew very well. But Haku was right that this was the first time he saw a friend dying. Before, he had nobody to call a friend. He didn't even call Sasuke a friend before now, but the Uchiha took the blow for him, so Naruto supposed he counted as one. And now he was about to lose him almost as soon as he found him. No! He couldn't allow it to happen! But what could he do? They had already established that Haku was the better warrior.

No matter how he looked at it, he was in a hopeless situation. The only chance he saw at their continuous survival was if Kakashi suddenly showed up and saved them, but judging from the clang of metal coming from the mist, the masked jounin was still preoccupied with his fight against Zabuza and wasn't about to finish anytime soon. And he didn't even consider Sakura coming to the rescue. But he just had to do something! Otherwise everybody would end up dead. Unfortunately no ideas came to him.

"_Do something, you useless filth," _Fugaku demanded. It did nothing to improve Naruto's morale. He felt like a useless piece of filth. He was slowly slipping into despair. He created a bunch of Kage Bunshin and attacked the mirrors, but it had the same results as his previous attempts: a pointless waste of chakra. And he was already feeling tired.

"No!" he shouted. He abandoned all tactics. He jumped at the nearest mirror and pounded at it with all his might. The only result of his effort were his aching fists. And several senbon to his back, courtesy of Haku. Some of them must have hit something important, because he was suddenly feeling week. He couldn't keep standing upright and slowly slid to his knees.

"You fought valiantly, but this is as far as you will get," Haku spoke. "I must kill you to protect Zabuza-sama's dream. You'll join your friend soon."

"No!" Naruto screamed again. He was not going to die here. Something inside him snapped. He pushed himself to his feet. Suddenly his weakness was gone. He punched the closest mirror with renewed vigor. He didn't care whether Haku was there or not. The ice shook and tiny crack appeared in the surface. Somehow, he wasn't surprised, but Haku was. But the Hyouton wielder was too experienced to let it hinder him. He sent more chakra into the jutsu and the ice repaired itself, becoming as smooth as if it was never cracked.

Naruto punched again and this time shards flew from the mirror. His third strike shattered it completely. Haku inhaled in surprise. This had never happened before. Nobody had ever managed to break out from his Prison of Ice Mirrors. It was true that he had never captured a really high-level ninja within it, but still. But he was even more surprised when the orange-clad genin turned around. Naruto had changed. The lines of his face, small and insignificant before, turned dark and wide and his eyes became red with slitted pupils. Just what was going on?

He had no time to wonder before Naruto pounced. He barely managed to skip mirrors before the one he had been occupying shattered into tiny pieces. It scared him. Just what was the force he was dealing with and how did the Konoha genin suddenly grow so strong? Could it be just because of his friend? No, that still didn't explain everything. Then he couldn't ponder over it anymore because he was too busy dodging for his life. Naruto became not only stronger, but also faster.

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A sinister power washed over the bridge, suffocating everybody with its tainted scent. _No,_ Kakashi thought recognizing it immediately. _Not this and not now._ Was the seal broken? Did the Kyuubi escape? He concentrated on the feeling of the chakra in the air. He sighed in relief. The seal wasn't broken, but the Kyuubi's chakra was flowing through at a high rate. What was going on? And why couldn't he feel Sasuke? He could only hope that his presence was merely obscured by the Kyuubi's power. And where was Zabuza? He completely lost track of him while he was distracted.

Then he realized that there was only one place the Kiri nukenin needed to be. He turned on his heels and ran towards where Sakura and Tazuna were hiding. He barely made it in time. The Swordsman was just swinging his zanbato in an attempt to bisect both their client and his guard. Kakashi jumped into its path, blocking Kubikiri Houchou with a kunai. It was barely enough. The force behind the blow flattened his kunai against his chest, drew blood from his upper arm and pushed him back. Fortunately his flak jacked saved him from any serious injury. And his action gave Sakura enough time to push Tazuna to the ground. So their client was saved for the time being.

"Not bad, Copycat," Zabuza commented disappearing in the mist. He sounded completely unperturbed by the feeling of Kyuubi's chakra filling the air. "But how many more times would you manage to block? Look at yourself, you're already wounded. You can't keep up for much longer."

"You might be right," Kakashi admitted, "so now it's the time to end it."

"End it?" the Demon of the Hidden Mist chuckled. "Don't be ridiculous. I'll be the one ending you."

"You're welcome to try," the silver-haired jounin said. And it was indeed the time to end it. If something had happened to the seal, he had to see to it now. With that thought, he pulled a summoning scroll from his pocket.

There was a red haze obscuring Naruto's eyes. The only thing he could see clearly through it was Haku. The only thing he could think about clearly was killing him. He felt rage like never before. He ignored Sasuke's motionless body and the terrified screams of his relatives, intent only on utterly crushing his target. He growled in annoyance as Haku escaped once again. But he got closer this time. The masked boy was slowing down. Or he was becoming faster. It didn't matter. The only thing that mattered was that his prey won't be able to avoid him for much longer.

He was shattering the ice mirrors faster than Haku was able to repair them. Soon one of his hits grazed Haku's side, but the boy managed to enter one of his mirrors. But his next dodge was hindered by the injury. Naruto's fist caught him straight to his chest and flung him several paces away. Before he could get to his feet, the berserk blond was on him again. The Ice wielder tried to defend himself, but all his attempts were in vain. The jinchuuriki shook off his senbon like they were nothing. He couldn't even try any jutsu; the murderous genin didn't give him enough time to form any handseals.

Naruto didn't care about his plight and continued to pummel him senselessly. He wasn't even trying to kill him anymore, he was merely enjoying the sight of his pain. Then one punch shattered Haku's Hunter Nin mask. Naruto now stared straight into his wide, scared eyes.

_Good, _he thought,_ be scared, worm._ Then another thought occurred to him. _Did I really just think that? Hey! That's not me! Sure, this is an enemy, but I shouldn't be enjoying his pain like this!_

_**But it's so much fun.**_

Now he was sure. That wasn't his thought. But whose? _Kyuubi? _He got no answer. _I have to calm down, _he thought. Haku's wide eyes were still staring at him. _**Kill him. **__He's an enemy. _Suddenly Naruto didn't know what to do. He paused in his assault on the boy. Haku noticed his hesitation and was quick to use it. He pulled out a kunai and stabbed at his stomach. Naruto didn't see it coming. His first indication that something was wrong was the pain in his belly. He swung his fist and hit Haku's temple. The older boy slumped on the ground motionless.

_**Kill him! Tear him apart! He dared to hurt you!**_

Naruto was more concerned about getting the kunai out of his abdonmen.

_**Kill him now! He's defenseless!**__** The perfect opportunity!**_

He ignored the Kyuubi's voice and pulled the weapon out. It hurt even worse than being stabbed. He watched in fascination as the wound closed in front of his eyes. He had always healed fast, but this surpassed anything he had experienced before. Then he felt the unnatural rage leaving. He suddenly felt weak. He wanted just to sit down and do nothing. But he couldn't, he was supposed to be doing something. But what was it? He couldn't remember. He looked around. His eyes fell on the unconscious form of Haku. That wasn't it. But the prone boy reminded him of something. What was it? And then it hit him. Sasuke! He jumped to his feet and ran towards the wounded boy.

.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.

The mist was lifting, Sakura noticed with a surprise. Did it mean that the battle was already over? Did Kakashi-sensei, Sasuke and Naruto win? Or did they lose and now the enemy was dismissing the cover of fog because they didn't need it anymore, knowing that she stood no chance against them? No, that didn't make any sense. Maybe they merely lost concentration and the technique dissipated on its own; there was no way to know. She tightened her grip on her kunai, preparing to face anything the mist might reveal. She only prayed it won't be any of the mist ninja. She didn't estimate her chances of survival without Kakashi there to save her as high.

The waiting seemed unbearable to her. She could feel Tazuna's presence at her back, scared even more than she was. But she couldn't let him see her fear, so she tried to put on a brave facade. She didn't succeed, but she hoped even the thought counted.

More and more of their surroundings appeared as the fog kept receding. First it was only some crates, then a couple of steel beams, a mangled body of a construction worker, another crate and another nameless corpse. Then there was the fake hunter-nin and behind him Naruto was kneeling over something. Her breath caught in her throat when she recognized the bloodied body.

"Sasuke," she whimpered. She wanted to run to him, she even made the first step, but then she remembered Tazuna. She had her orders. She was a kunoichi of Konoha and she couldn't abandon the client just because she was distraught. _Rule 25, _she thought. _A shinobi mustn't show emotions no matter what. Or something like that. _But damn it, it was so much easier said than done. It was one thing to recite it in the class, another to abide by it when her love was lying on the ground, wounded, dying, maybe even dead. _No! _She couldn't think about it. She would break down completely if she did.

"I can go with you," Tazuna offered. "That way you can see him and you won't break your orders." She nodded. She was grateful. She was sure that she wasn't supposed to do that, but she did it anyway. She walked towards Sasuke and the old bridge builder followed. A part of her wanted to run, to find out what had happened to her beloved, but another part dreaded what she might find there. She kept walking.

Finally she arrived at her destination. She stopped, taking in the sight in front of her. Sasuke was lying on the ground, his eyes closed, his skin ashen, his body motionless. Naruto was kneeling next to him, picking out the senbon from his neck and torso. The dark-haired genin didn't even twitch.

"Sasuke," she whispered, her lips trembling. She fell to her knees. She could feel tears welling in her eyes. _No, _she told herself, _this cannot be true. Sasuke can't be..._

"He's not dead," Naruto announced.

"No?" she asked in disbelief. But he was so still. She couldn't see him breathing. How could Sasuke not be dead? Was Naruto saying it to prevent her from breaking down or was he simply too stupid to recognize that someone was dead?

"He's still alive, but just barely," the blond genin explained. "He will die if we don't do something quickly."

"But what?" she asked.

"I don't know," he shrugged. "You were always the smart one."

_She was always the smart one. _Usually it would be nice to hear the praise, but now it sounded like a joke. She was the smart one. She was always the one with best grades at the Academy, the perfect test scores and the title of Kunoichi of the Year. And now she was the only one who could do something to save Sasuke. And she had no idea what to do. She wracked her brain, remembering all the lessons of First Aid the teachers drilled to her head. It seemed so long ago, almost like if it happened in a different lifetime to a different person. She wasn't sure she could remember how to apply a bandaid.

_Calm down, _she told herself. _You're smart, Sakura. You can do it._

_**Shannaro! **_Inner Sakura added. _**We can do it! We can save Sasuke!**_

_I can do it, _she assured herself once more. She took a deep breath. _Diagnosis first. Naruto already removed the senbon. Sasuke doesn't breathe. Does his heart beat? If no, then I'll have to resuscitate. And mouth-to-mouth, if he doesn't start breathing._

_**We're going to kiss Sasuke! **_Inner Sakura cheered. Sakura told her to shut up and began her attempts to save Sasuke.

Naruto watched Sakura work. She seemed uncertain at first, but she was gaining confidence quickly. And Sasuke's soul was still in his body, so she had to be doing something right.

"_Don't die, Sasuke," _Obito spoke from behind. He turned around. The Uchiha ghost was standing there, looking even paler than usual and shaking. Kakashi approached after him, his uniform covered in blood, but it didn't look like it was his blood. So he must have defeated Zabuza. Good. But something still bothered him. Something wasn't right. But what? He looked around. They were alone there, no enemies in sight.

And then it hit him: They were alone. Where were the Uchiha ghosts? They were a constant obnoxious presence in his life ever since the formation of Team 7, but suddenly they were gone. What happened to them? Shouldn't they be here wailing over Sasuke? And why was Obito so spooked? Was it really because his last living relative might be dying or was there another reason? He would have never thought that he might ever possibly miss the dead Uchiha clan, but now their absence felt ominous. Mainly because he had no idea what had caused it. The ghosts were never scared. Nothing of the mortal world could harm them and they knew it. So what did happen to them now?

Before he could come up with an answer, a grating voice brought him out of his musings.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?"

He turned around. There stood a short, squat and balding man in an expensive suit. It would have been a comical sight, if it wasn't for the hundred armed and dangerous thugs gathered behind him.


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto.

**Through the Eyes of Death**

"Well, well, well," Gatou said, because it couldn't be anyone but the corrupt businessman. Tazuna's sharp intake of breath was pretty tell-tale. "Look what we have here. So the Demon of the Mist got himself killed? He wasn't much of a demon then. A baby demon, maybe." The horde of thugs at his back chuckled darkly. "Well, it doesn't really matter. I never meant to pay him anyway so you actually helped me. But don't expect any thanks from me. Now I'm going to get rid of you too." After those words the band of goons reached for their weapons meaningfully.

_Not good, _Naruto thought. _They're just regular thugs, but there's too many of them. And we're all exhausted and wounded from the battle with Zabuza and Haku._

"_In your dreams!" _Obito shouted. _"Your goons are nothing to the shinobi of Konoha! We're going to tear them apart! Especially Kakashi! He can tear apart anybody!" _Naruto glared at him. Such optimism was completely unfounded. Maybe it they were fresh, he could just create a horde of Shadow Clones to tear into them, but currently he felt so weak that he wasn't sure he could manage a single one. And he was also scared of tapping into the Kyuubi's power again. The experience was something he had no desire to repeat and he was sure it was going to haunt him for a long time to come. But the current situation looked like they were screwed. Could he risk using the tainted power again and perhaps lose himself to the rage again? Or could he do nothing and let his team be overrun by Gatou's army of mercenaries? It was a tough choice. And it looked like he had only seconds to make it, because the mob was beginning to move.

_There's really just one thing to do,_ he thought. He stood up and put his hands into the Ram seal.

"Not so fast," Kakashi spoke before he could do anything else. Naruto realized he was talking to Gatou's group. "Does your boss pay you that well that you want to mess with ninja? Do you have any idea how much of you I can kill in just a second?" The approaching mob hesitated a bit. They were unsure, but they didn't back off. Some of them were looking pointedly at Gatou, daring him to raise their salary. And the greedy businessman would probably give in, considering he needed to secure a bigger investment. And Naruto had the impression that his sensei was bluffing. He decided to help him out, no matter how risky it was.

"Now you heard what one ninja can do, watch this." He gathered his chakra. There wasn't much, but it still was more than he thought. Maybe the exhaustion was mainly in his head. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." Twelve copies of Naruto appeared in a row beside him. "See this?" he asked. "How many of you do you think they can kill in a second?"

Kakashi quickly caught on his game. He created clones of his own. Even Sakura followed, making three copies of herself, though hers were incorporeal. But the thugs had no way of knowing that. Now a veritable army of ninja stood facing Gatou's mob.

"I'll pay you double!" the short man offered. Most of his underlings still looked unconvinced. "Triple!" he raised his offer. He had to go to "Quadruple!" before they all agreed to take on the ninja. He mourned the unnecessary loss of money, but he consoled himself with the fact that there weren't going to be many mercenaries left to collect them.

"They're just illusions," somebody from the crowd spoke.

"What?" someone else asked.

"I said that army's not really there," the first voice repeated. "I knew a ninja once. He used to do their fancy clones a lot, but there's nothing really there. They're just illusions. They can't hurt you."

"Are you sure, Tatewaki?" a third voice asked.

"Yes," the first speaker insisted.

"Why couldn't you say that earlier?" Gatou demanded angrily.

"You weren't paying enough," Tatewaki replied.

Naruto realized that their situation was quickly turning bad. He could feel Sakura trembling and Kakashi frowning behind him. They had to do something quickly, or they were in even bigger trouble. If he could just kill that Tatewaki character from here, but he didn't have a clean shot at him, thanks to a couple of tall and bulky men standing between them. But maybe there was some other, just as good target. And then he decided that it didn't really matter what he was going to hit, just that he would hit something. He pulled out a handful of shuriken from his pouch and his clones mirrored his actions,

"So you think my clones are just an illusion? So this is just an illusion too, right?" He hurled the shuriken at the crowd, his clones doing the same. With a target that big, there was no way he could miss.

"Naruto!" Kakashi scolded him. The jounin had still hoped to resolve the situation without resorting to violence, but the blond genin had just ruined it. Now he had no choice but to go with the flow.

The shuriken left Naruto's hands and flew towards the mercenaries. Despite Tatewaki's insistence that they weren't real, their reflexes still demanded that they take cower. Whoever had a shield, raised it. Whoever didn't, tried to hide behind his comrades or at least block the oncoming weapons with their own. But Naruto was a trained ninja and his throwing skills vastly surpassed their blocking. Some of his shuriken were stopped, but most of them found their targets and bit deep into the thugs' flesh.

"So what do you say now?" the blond shouted. "Are they real or not?" The goons had to admit that they were. They looked reluctantly at each other and many of them glared accusingly at Tatewaki, who survived unharmed thanks to ducking behind the two giants in front of him.

"You said they weren't real!" somebody accused him.

"Well," Tatewaki shrugged uncertainly, "ninja are tricky."

"Are you going to just stand there?" Gatou shouted. "Go avenge your comrades! Or don't you want your money?"

The 'money' comment seemed to sway the crowd. The mercenaries didn't care about each other, but their paychecks were an entirely different matter. And despite most of them being just common thugs, there were some experienced soldiers among them, who weren't afraid of a tough enemy. They turned back towards the Konoha ninja and lifted their weapons to attack.

"Do you really want to fight for a man who is likely to have you killed so he wouldn't have to pay you?" Sakura shouted. Everybody blinked in surprise. Nobody had expected her to contribute to their struggle. She had been scared to the verge of panic the moment before. She had no idea herself where did she find the courage to speak up. Maybe it was Inner Sakura talking.

"What is she talking about?" somebody asked.

"Didn't he just say that he had never meant to pay Zabuza?" the girl continued. "What makes you think he'd pay you?"

"Of course I'd pay you," Gatou assured them. "You're my prized employees. Zabuza was just a one-time business partner."

"Are you actually going to believe it?" Naruto asked.

"Just kill them now or I won't pay you a single ryo!" the businessman shouted angrily. Naruto grimaced. Why didn't it occur to him to kill the pest when he threw the shuriken at the mob? He wanted to punch himself, but now wasn't the time for crying over spilled milk. He had to concentrate on finding a way out.

Then something happened that nobody had expected, though in hindsight they really should have.

.-..-..-..-..-..-..-..-..-..-..-..-.

Haku slowly drifted back to consciousness. The first sensation to enter his mind was pain. Everything hurt. Next he realized he was lying on something hard and cold. What was it? And how did he get there? He struggled to remember. There was a battle. They were on the bridge. They were fighting the Konoha team. He had trapped the two genin boys. And then... a jolt of pain came instead of the memory. But he had to remember. Last time he knew he had been winning, and now he was lying on the ground, feeling completely beaten. So what did happen to him? Ah, he could recall it now. He had downed the Uchiha, but then the blond one had suddenly changed into a monster. A demon. Haku had no idea what it was, but it had been terrible. It had shattered his Ice Mirrors like they were mere glass. And he hadn't been able to outrun it. He had been caught and the berserk genin had pounded him mercilessly. He had thought it was going to be the end of him. But he was still alive. How? Why? Did Zabuza-sama save him? And where was Zabuza-sama?

He opened his eyes. He could see the clear skies. So the Kirigakure no Jutsu had been dispelled. The battle was over. But did they win or lose? Then he heard a voice and he realized that there had been people arguing around him for quite some time, but he had been so lost in his inner reverie, that he had barely noticed them. Who were they and what were they arguing about? And why couldn't he hear Zabuza-sama's voice?

He turned his head. It hurt, but the pain was bearable. He concentrated on what he was seeing. It seemed blurry at first, but then his vision slowly cleared.

First he noticed the Konoha team. They were standing on guard, expect the Uchiha. They were staring at something intently, paying him no attention. They made perfect targets for a surprise attack, if only he wasn't too weak to do anything about it. Then he noticed they were looking, tense, anxious but ready to fight. Who were they facing? Was it Zabuza-sama?

He turned his head the other way. There, on the other end of the bridge, was a large crowd of people. Not Zabuza-sama. But who were they? He should know, but his head hurt too much. He couldn't remember. Then his vision cleared further and he could recognize a short figure standing at the forefront of the mob. Gatou. What was he doing here? He wasn't supposed to come. So why did he? And where was Zabuza-sama? He had to find him.

He had to move. He experimentally wiggled his fingers and toes. They responded. Good. He tried to sit up. His whole body protested and he wanted to scream, but he bit his lip and managed to stay silent. He sat for a moment, waiting for the pain to fade a bit. Then he looked at the other people on the bridge again. They were still facing off, completely oblivious to him. And where was Zabuza-sama? Why couldn't he see him anywhere? He was getting really worried now.

He was startled when he caught his master's name. He concentrated on what the people were saying.

"_What makes you think he'd pay you?" _a girlish voice said. The Konoha kunoichi.

"_Of course ... ... you." _Gatou's voice. He was standing further away, so Haku couldn't understand everything. _"You're my pri... ...ploy... Zabuza was just ...n time ...ness partner."_ _'Zabuza was?' _Why were they talking about him in past tense?

"_Are you actually going to believe it?" _Naruto. He was angry, but he wasn't berserk anymore. At least something was good.

"_Just kill them now or I won't pay you a single ryo!" _Gatou's shout was perfectly clear.

Haku couldn't take it anymore. He just had to know. He had to find out what had happened to Zabuza-sama. There was a crate conveniently placed in his vicinity. He used it to push himself up. But as he leaned on it, the crate moved, making a loud, grating sound. Everybody's eyes turned to him.

._.._.._.._.._.._.._.._.._.._.._.._.

Naruto whirled around. He could feel his heart jumping into his throat upon hearing the sound. Were there more enemies on the bridge? Were they setting up an ambush? When he noticed Haku leaning on a crate, he didn't know what to make of it. Should he be glad that he didn't kill him in Kyuubi-induced rage? Should he be worried that he left an enemy alive to strike at their backs? Well, Haku appeared to be barely standing, so that shouldn't be a problem. The question was: What was going to happen now?

He didn't have to wait long for his answer. Gatou seemed startled to see the young ninja on his feet, but got over his surprise quickly.

"Kill him!" he ordered. The thugs didn't have to be told twice. After all, a barely standing boy was a much easier target than a trio of armed and alert shinobi. And Haku just stood there, like he didn't even comprehend what was going on. The mob was nearly upon him and he still didn't move a muscle. Naruto couldn't watch it anymore. He knew that the Ice wielder was technically an enemy, but he wasn't cold-blooded enough to just watch as somebody defenseless was getting slaughtered. Against his own better judgment, he moved.

.-.._..-.._..-.._..-.._..-.._..-.._..-.

Haku stood in a daze, watching them charge. What was going on? Why did Gatou want him dead? What was the businessman talking about earlier? What was it about not wanting to pay somebody? Could they possibly mean that they didn't want to pay Zabuza-sama? Did they perhaps do something to Zabuza-sama so they wouldn't have to pay him? No, they were too wimpy to manage. It must have been the Konoha team. Kakashi. And what was he thinking? He still didn't know whether Zabuza-sama was really... no, he couldn't even think the word.

Something bright flashed in front of his eyes. He blinked in surprise. He realized he had completely zoned out, up to the point of forgetting about the horde of mercenaries running at him. He probably wouldn't have noticed until they hit him. But then suddenly Naruto appeared and kicked the fastest one out of the way, expertly stabbing the second one. The attack faltered, but didn't stop. The mob had too much momentum for that.

That sight sprung Haku into action. Gatou and his men were now enemies. Just well, he had never liked them anyway. He was still angry at the short businessman for trying to lay his filthy hands on Zabuza-sama. He'd be glad to pay them back.

He didn't think he could outrun a toddler in his current condition, but he still had some chakra left. And there was plenty of water on the bridge. He brought his hands together, ignoring the pain, and run his fingers through a sequence of handseals. It took him much longer than it should, but thankfully Naruto was protecting him, disposing of any mercenary that got ahead of the main horde.

Finally he was finished. With the last seal, he whispered the name of the jutsu. "Hyouton: Gosunkugi." The puddles on the bridge moved, raising up, solidifying into spears of ice. The process was slow, any genin would have no trouble dodging it, but Gatou's minions didn't have the benefit of shinobi training. And many of them didn't have the benefit of having space to dodge. The spikes pierced their legs and stomachs. They collapsed to the ground.

And through a gap in the crowd Haku noticed something he hadn't noticed before. Either it had been hidden behind something or his eyesight had been too blurry, but now he could see it clear as day. There, on the ground, lay Zabuza's motionless body. He blinked. No, it couldn't be true. It couldn't be Zabuza-sama. But the Kubikiri Houchou was lying right beside him. But Zabuza-sama couldn't be dead; it had to be some mistake. But there was so much blood.

"Zabuza-sama," he whispered desperately, making a step forward. He didn't get any further. His strength finally deserted him and he collapsed. He didn't even feel when he hit the ground. He was already unconscious.

+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+:+

The attacking crowd got thinner, but it wasn't enough. There were still a lot of them running at him. When he had acted to save Haku, he felt an adrenaline rush, but it was short-lived. He could already feel his limbs turning to lead. He'd be glad if he could hold them off for a minute. His clones had rushed to his help, but they were slow thanks to their low chakra and got dispelled quickly. Kakashi appeared beside him, swiftly disposing of one swordsman who nearly got through Naruto's guard. The blond genin had no time to thank him, he was too busy fending of a scarred man with a spear. Sakura remained close to the pale and trembling Tazuna and Sasuke's pale and still body, unable to leave him, but her hands clasped together showed that she was busy casting genjutsu at the approaching crowd. Unfortunately she didn't know anything that would influence them all.

The situation looked bleak. They were surrounded, outnumbered and too tired to run. Yet they were all determined to fight to the last breath. And it looked like a likely outcome. Naruto now sported a shallow gash across his ribs, thanks to completely missing one goon with a sword, and Kakashi escaped the same fate only because his jounin vest stopped the blade. But it was only a matter of time before they would be overwhelmed.

Then a new party joined the battle.


	17. Chapter 17

**Author's Note:** Happy Boxing day. I hope you had a Merry Christmas and if not, I hope that this chapter can make up for it. And because I won't be posting another chapter within the next week, Happy New Year everyone. May it be better than the last one.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto. I hoped I'd get it for Christmas, but Santa must have lost my letter. Too bad. Maybe next year. I'm going to write to Santa recomando, so I'll know he got it.

**Through the Eyes of Death**

Inari felt both elated and scared. He didn't know how it was possible, but he did. He was finally doing something. He was about to become a hero, like his father. But he was also terrified, because he wasn't a big, strong man like Kaiza, or skilled and powerful like the ninja team, but just a small, weak Inari. He wasn't even sure what had possessed him to run into the town and start rallying the people to fight Gatou. He didn't even understand why his mother had joined him instead of trying to stop him. He had no reason to think the people would come now when they didn't before, but apparently many of them felt they had nothing to lose.

A really big crowd gathered. To Inari, it looked like the whole town decided to take up the arms. And he wasn't that far from the truth. And they were all looking at him. At him! He could hardly believe it, but it was so. He had thought, that somebody was going to take command, but no-one did. None of them were heroes like Kaiza was, always ready to charge into danger. But they were no cowards either. They would go and face peril, if there was someone to lead them. And Inari realized that the someone was him. He was the one who rallied them up, thus establishing himself as the leader. And though he was young, he was the son of Kaiza to them. They were all waiting for his command.

He took a deep breath, trying to steady himself. He hoped that nobody could see how anxious he felt. Now was his time to shine and he was determined to do everything right. _Father, I hope you can see me now. Are you proud of me?_

"Let's go," he said simply. He turned around and headed for the bridge. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Tsunami smiling proudly. It warmed his heart, giving him more courage. The Wave Country's new army marched into their first battle.

.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.

Sakura stood above Sasuke's motionless body, holding a kunai in her hand, stabbing and slashing at everybody who got too close. She knew that she was supposed to be protecting Tazuna, but she couldn't bring herself to abandon her beloved. She had no idea where had the old bridge builder gone and she didn't care. The only thing she cared about was keeping Sasuke safe, but it was becoming harder and harder task by the minute. She blocked a sword swipe from a particularly scruffy-looking thug and kicked him in the stomach. He took a step back, but it barely made him grunt.

Sakura cursed inwardly. Her strength was waning and she was afraid that it was going to run out at any moment. Why, oh why didn't she put more effort into her training? Ohm yes, there were always other things to do. Brushing her hair. Shopping for the best clothes. Dieting to preserve her slim figure. Showing up Ino-pig. All the things she had to do to look beautiful for Sasuke-kun. Only now she couldn't help but think that the Uchiha would have appreciated more if she were able to keep him safe. She made a silent oath that should she survive this, she'd put all her effort into training. No more worrying about looking pretty, only about being the perfect kunoichi. Next time some band of goons won't be able to even ruffle her hairdo.

But it looked like there won't be any next time. She had to use both hands to block a sword and it left her open for a kick to her stomach. She fell down, barely missing Sasuke as she landed. She had just enough time to realize that it was a good thing that she didn't crush him on top of all his injuries, when she was kicked again. The wind was knocked out of her and she dropped her weapon. A small part of her brain told her that she should retrieve it quickly or she'll end up dead, but most of her mind was too preoccupied with how much her kicked stomach hurt.

She realized that if she didn't do something soon, she was going to die there. But she had only enough energy to roll on her back and vainly try to block the next kick. And then the mercenary stood above her with his sword poised to strike. She reached into her hip pouch for a kunai, but she could already see that she won't make it.

Then the swordsman suddenly toppled over, an arrow protruding from his chest. Sakura blinked in confusion. What did just happen? Then she heard a loud roar coming from many throats at once. She turned her head. There, on the end of the bridge, was a crowd of the villagers. She thought she recognized Tsunami and Inari among them, but she couldn't be sure. All of them looked fierce and ready for battle, but their weapons consisted of various farming, fishing and kitchen implements. There were hundreds of them, but the narrow bridge didn't allow them to exploit the numerical advantage.

_This is going to be a massacre, _Sakura thought. _I have to do something. _But what? She was downed and she barely had the energy to get up. And the Wave Country Army was already charging forward. Sakura watched them helplessly. She reached for a kunai into her hip pouch, but the action seemed pointless. A kunai won't make any difference.

_**We aren't going to just sit and watch! **_Inner Sakura shouted. _**We are kunoichi! We fight!**_

_That's easier said than done, _Sakura thought, withdrawing the kunai from her pouch. Wait, her pouch. Didn't she have some Explosive Notes there? She didn't have the time to use them before, but now thanks to the appearance of the villagers nobody was paying attention to her.

She quickly took out the pieces of seal-inscribed papers. She had total four of them. It wasn't much and they were of the weaker sort, but it would have to do. She quickly attached them to the handles of her kunai. Then one of the thugs finally remembered she was there and tried to take her head. She managed to block and stab him with her other hand into his stomach, but the whole exchange took too long. By that time, the two armies crashed. She didn't look to see the result. She was sure that she wouldn't have liked the sight.

She quickly checked the crowd for where Kakashi and Naruto were. It would have been really stupid if after all they had survived they were downed by friendly fire. Then she took a deep breath and threw the kunai. The tags trailing behind them caught on fire and soon there were four small explosions. Men were thrown in all directions, causing confusion among their comrades.

_Tazuna isn't going to like the damage to his bridge, _Sakura thought. Then she almost laughed. Why was she worrying about it now? She had more pressing matters to attend to, namely a huge scarred man who was just trying to stab her with her sword. She quickly moved out of the way. She had done what she could. But the battle was still on.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Naruto couldn't decide whether he should cheer or despair upon seeing their reinforcements. At this point of battle, any help was welcome, but he could tell that this was going to quickly turn into a bloodbath. The villagers were angry and numerous, but Gatou's mercenaries had better weapons and skill. He had to do something, but the problem was that he couldn't disengage from his opponents. Whenever he was able to get rid of one, another took his place and it was all the boy could do to just survive. And Kakashi wasn't much better of; the battle with Zabuza had taken a great toll on him. Naruto suspected he was hiding a serious wound, a jounin was supposed to be better than that.

Naruto sighed as he blocked another sword swipe and stabbed at the opponent, only succeeding in scratching him slightly. Even if he did get the opportunity, what should he do? Even if Gatou dropped dead now, he doubted it would change anything. The mercenaries wouldn't abandon the battle they were winning just because some difficulties in collecting their pay might arise.

His train of thought was interrupted by a loud explosion. He immediately recognized it as Explosive Tags. He couldn't see how many of the thugs were hit, but judging from the startled reactions of the others, it must have had quite an effect.

Naruto realized that he wasn't going to get a better opportunity than this. Despite not having a definite plan and not being sure whether his current one was a good idea, he headed straight for Gatou. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Kakashi going the other direction, probably to help Sakura and Sasuke.

Naruto got quite close to the short, fat businessman before one of the thugs remembered they were supposed to stop him. Naruto swiftly ducked under his sword and stabbed him into the stomach. It was too easy. This particular goon probably knew why he decided to stay behind. Another mercenary seeing this moved out of the genin's way. The boy ignored him and went straight for the third one, who stood in his path with an undaunted look. The young blond threw a kunai at his head and while he was dodging, he dashed inside his guard and plunged his other kunai right below his ribcage. The man collapsed to the ground. Nothing more stood between Naruto and his goal.

"I'll give you money!" Gatou yelled. He sounded confident that it was going to work. Naruto's expression darkened.

"I'll give you lots of money! More than you can ever make as ninja!" This time it sounded a bit worried.

"Do I look retarded to you?" Naruto spat. "You stab everybody in the back, scum."

"I'll give you more money than you knew existed!" Now the businessman sounded panicked. Naruto sneered. The whiskers on his face made him look like a tiger ready to pounce to Gatou.

"Not interested," the blond shook his head. "Just die."

"Wait! Help me!" Gatou pleaded, but was ignored by everybody. Naruto lunged. Gatou's pleading was cut short as a red line appeared on his throat, spouting blood.

"Your leader is dead!" the genin shouted. "Nobody's going to pay you! So why are you still fighting?"

Several of the mercenaries turned around to look at him. Most of them had unreadable or confused expressions on their faces, trying to figure out what this meant to them. Then one's face broke into a wide grin.

"If you killed our paycheck, then we'll have to take some loot!"

Naruto cursed. That wasn't what he had in mind. Maybe he should have tried taking Gatou hostage? No, that wouldn't have done any good. And there was no point in musing over could have beens, especially when the battle was still on. He'd have to jump into the fray and fight like before Sakura had thrown the Explosive Tags.

Wait, Explosive Tags, he had that too. He had only two of them, not being able to afford more, thanks to their high price, but he felt like this situation warranted their use. He quickly wrapped them around the handles of kunai, praying that they wouldn't go off in his hand, like it nearly happened once before. Only quick reflexes had saved his fingers back then, letting him escape with only third-degree burns. That weapons merchant had later insisted that he had no idea there had been something wrong with it, but Naruto was convinced he must have known he was selling inferior merchandise, if he weren't outright trying to kill him.

Naruto threw the kunai. He let out a sigh of relief. The tags caught on fire just when they were supposed to. _It looks like I got some quality goods for a change._ Then the Tags exploded in a blast strong enough to throw even him backwards. _Quality goods indeed, _he thought. _I had no idea Explosive Tags can be this strong._ He got to his feet, observing the damage done. There was a huge hole in the middle of the bridge. _Tazuna is going to kill me._

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*

The battle was very nearly over after the last explosion. Very few of the mercenaries were left in fighting condition. The enraged citizens of Wave Country ran them over. Some of them even jumped off the bridge rather than face their wrath. Then suddenly the battle was over for good. The villagers looked at each other, like they couldn't believe that the nightmare was finally over. Than they exploded into a loud cheer, which must have been heard as far as the shores of the Fire Country.

But then their joy was interrupted by the sound of somebody crying. A young man was kneeling above the mangled body of an old one, cradling him in his arms. "Father," he wailed. "Say something." But it was clear that he won't. He won't speak ever again. It was a sobering realization for them. They had won, but it wasn't without losses. Soon everybody was looking around, looking for their loved ones. Too often they found them lying on the ground, either dead or dying. Soon the bridge exploded in a flurry of activity, trying to save those who were still breathing.

Inari walked among them, staring at the carnage. Did this all happen because he wasn't good enough to be a hero? Or was this a part of being a hero? If it was so, he wasn't sure he wanted to be a hero anymore. So many people dead. Sure, they had freed their island from Gatou's tyranny, but was it really worth it? More than ever before, he wished Kaiza was there. He sure would have managed to drive Gatou off without losing a single life on their side. But he... he was just little Inari. What had he been thinking, leading an army to battle? He had absolutely no idea how it was done, but this was something he should have taken into consideration before he did it. And now it was too late. The people were already dead. He could see Hiroki lying motionless on the ground, a sword still protruding from his chest. And next to him lay Kunio, his throat slit. And there were Yoshino and Kyou trying to stop the bleeding from Minoru's wounds, but they had no success. Inari watched them all and couldn't help but think that it was entirely his fault. If only Kaiza were here, he would have made everything better. He would have saved them all. But he... he couldn't do anything. He wished Kaiza would suddenly appear, lay an arm on his shoulders and tell him everything was going to be alright, like he used to do before... Inari couldn't take it anymore. He collapsed to his knees and cried.

He didn't know how long did he stay there, but it couldn't have been very long before a hand landed on his shoulder. For a moment he thought it was Kaiza, but then he recognized the newcomer.

"Mom?"

"Inari," Tsunami replied.

"They're dead." His mother didn't answer. "They're going to hate me now, aren't they?"

Tsunami knelt down next to his grandson and hugged him. "Why would they hate you, Inari? You helped us regain our freedom."

"But they're dead," the boy whispered. "And it's my fault."

"No, it's Gatou's fault," Tsunami disagreed. "His mercenaries killed them on his orders."

"But I led them to their deaths," Inari sobbed.

"They choose to follow you freely. You led them to victory."

"But they're still dead."

"It's not your fault."

Inari broke down in sobs. Tsunami hugged him tightly. She was sorry that her son had to see this. Maybe it had been a mistake to bring him alone. But then, he was the one who rallied the people. Without him, nobody would have gathered the army that drew Gatou out of their land forever. This was the time for joy, not sorrow. But seeing the casualties around and hearing the weeping of the child in her arms, she couldn't feel that their victory was hollow. Would Inari ever get over this? She had no idea. She knew only one thing: she wished she could have dealt with Gatou personally. Because no matter what Hell did he end up in, it couldn't be worse than what she wanted to do to him for ruining her family.


	18. Chapter 18

**Author's note:** I did it! I managed to post at least one update for my epic Naruto stories this month. Sorry for the wait. My only excuse is that I've been more motivated to write my Bleach stories lately. I hope that the next chapter will be done faster. I even consider it likely, because a plot bunny jumped into my head, telling me what to write. Anyway, that's enough of my ramblings, let's get on to the story. I hope it won't disappoint you.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto.

**Through the Eyes of Death**

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Sakura knelt over Sasuke. She felt like there was a giant boulder in the pit of her stomach and the boulder was made of worry and fear. She had already pulled out all the senbon, but the Uchiha still looked so pale and still. Was he even still alive? What was she supposed to do that he stayed that way? The Academy didn't teach any medical ninjutsu, they were too complicated for the students.

"**He's going to survive," **Inner Sakura reassured her. **"He is our Sasuke-kun after all. This isn't enough to kill him. We will win his heart yet, Shannaro!"** Sakura only wished she could share her inner self's confidence. Or that she could at least punch her in the face. Sometimes her comments got really annoying.

She sensed somebody kneeling beside her. She turned her head to see Kakashi. His hitai-ate was once again pulled down over his Sharingan eye. She was extremely grateful for the presence of the jounin. If it weren't for him, both of them would have been dead by now.

"Kakashi-sensei," she said pleadingly. The silver-haired man leant over his prone student, studying him for a while.

"He's still alive," he said, "but he's bad off."

"Can you help him?" She tried to keep her fear out of her voice, but she still came off sounding like a scared little girl. Curse it, she was a kunoichi! She was supposed to be strong. But she didn't feel strong right now.

"I hope so," the masked jounin nodded hesitantly. "I'm no medic, but I know some techniques." He performed several seals and one of his gloved hands glowed green. He laid it on Sasuke. He hoped it would help. He had never studied medicine and all his healing jutsu were copied. That limited their usefulness severely. He understood what the problem was: his knowledge on when to use which technique was sorely limited. He could only pray that he chose the correct one and used it the proper way. Or at least that he wasn't too far off the mark.

He felt his already depleted chakra reserves run even lower. Soon he would have to terminate the technique or risk another chakra exhaustion. But he would rather risk that than his student's life, especially when he was Obito's distant cousin. It didn't matter that he usually behaved like a jerk, Kakashi believed that he could get better.

Just when he thought he couldn't go on any longer, he finally noticed Sasuke's heartbeat getting stronger. He sighed in relief. He pushed a bit more chakra into the technique and the Uchiha's chest rose with drawn breath.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura exclaimed ecstatically.

"**See? I told you he'll be alright!" **Inner Sakura cheered. Kakashi sighed in relief and let the healing jutsu die down. He watched as the pink-haired girl launched herself around the unconscious boy's neck and cried in relief. His head swam. The exhaustion had finally caught up with him. His vision darkened and he fainted.

Sakura didn't notice it at first. Only when she calmed down and let go of Sasuke's unmoving form, she noticed she had now two unconscious men in her care. What was she supposed to do now?

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Naruto sighed in relief. It was over. Gatou was dead and his minions were either dead too or swimming for their lives. He stumbled towards the nearest crate and leaned on it. As the battle ended, his adrenaline levels dropped and his legs suddenly became shaky. The exhaustion from the overuse of Kyuubi's chakra was finally settling in.

He watched the people mingling on the bridge with an odd sense of detachment, like it was all a dream. He noted the wailing villagers grieving over the disfigured bodies of their friends and relatives while the spirits of the recently deceased floated among them, most of them not realizing what had happened to them, and others trying to save those who were still alive. _'So this is war,' _he thought. He had heard a lot about it from various ghosts, but this was the first time he saw it with his own two eyes. Somehow, it both was and wasn't what he had imagined. The dead bodies looked even worse than he had pictured them from numerous accounts. The new ghosts were even more confused than those he was used to. But on the other hand, there weren't as many casualties as he had feared. It looked like only about a dozen villagers have died, though some of the wounded might follow them soon. He didn't know whether to be sad or happy about the result. Should he say there were too many dead or just a few?

He decided that it didn't really matter. He could figure it out later. Now, he should do something. It should be something important. But what? He surveyed the battlefield, looking for his teammates. Where were they? Oh, there. He could see Kakashi's silver hair shining like a beacon. He was kneeling hunched over something. Sakura was beside him, looking worried. They were worried about Sasuke. The Uchiha was lying between them motionlessly, but Naruto could tell that he was still alive. In fact, it looked like his chest was moving. He was going to live. Good. So was there something else he was supposed to do?

He looked around, searching for a clue. Panicking people, blood on the bridge, water puddles, overturned crates, chunks of stone, chunks of ice, a few dead mercenaries... wait, ice? That was it. What had happened to the Hyouton wielder? He had started out as an enemy, but when Gatou's goons appeared, he had helped them. Naruto wanted to know what had happened to him. He felt that he owed the dark-haired boy at least that much.

He climbed to his feet. He still felt shaky, but at least his legs could carry him. Now where was the last spot he had seen Haku? It was near some crate, but there were dozens of those around. And he lost track of the correct one during the skirmish. He began searching the bridge systematically. It took a while, but he finally glimpsed the boy's fake oinin uniform sticking out between two boxes. He headed to him quickly.

He knelt above him, examining him. Exhaustion, severe blood loss, numerous bruises and possibly some broken bones, but the boy was still breathing. Well. But what to do now?

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Tazuna observed the proceedings on the bridge with mixed feelings. It was finally over. Gatou was dead and his thugs either dead too or scattered. They dream had just turned into reality. They could finally live in peace and prosperity, free of the corrupt businessman's oppression. Only, the price of freedom seemed too high. So many of his friends and acquaintances were lying on the ground, their lifeblood flowing from their veins and seeping into the cold stones of the bridge. And those who weren't busy looking for their loved ones or tending to the wounded were looking at him like they expected him to do something about it. But what could he do? He wasn't a leader. He was a bridge builder and that was it. Show him any river or valley and he could bridge it over, but don't ask him to help a nation to get through trying times. That was too far outside his area of expertise. Not for the first time, he wished Kaiza was here. That man always used to seem like he knew what to do and could easily make people to follow his example.

So he did nothing. He was the same as the people mingling around: looking for his loved ones. He had been very lucky to survive the battle and now he wanted to know whether his daughter and grandson did too. He had seen them when they had arrived, but he lost track of them shortly afterwards. He had to find them, but he also feared what he might find. What if they weren't alright? What if... no, he couldn't think such things. He had to believe they were alive unless he had a proof it wasn't so.

Then he caught a glimpse of familiar dark hair. His heart gave a jolt in his chest and despite the pain in his old joints, he took off running.

"Tsunami!" he called. She turned to him. There were tears in her eyes.

"Father?" she whispered, like she didn't believe she was really seeing him.

"Tsunami," he whispered, covering the distance separating them. His daughter turned to him, embracing him in a crushing hug. "I'm so glad you're alright."

"I'm too." They stayed motionless for a while, until Tazuna was distracted by the sound of somebody sobbing. He looked down, finally noticing the hunched form of his grandson. He knelt down next to him.

"Inari," he said, but the boy didn't react. He continued sobbing, like he didn't even hear him.

"Inari, what's wrong?" the grizzled man asked again. And once again the boy didn't respond. Tazuna embraced him, trying to comfort him the best he could. It felt unbearably inadequate. "It's over now, little one. The bad man is gone. Nobody's going to hurt you anymore. Everything's alright now."

Inari whispered something; it was so faint the old bridge builder didn't hear it.

"What did you say?" he inquired.

"They're dead," the boy answered in a near inaudible whisper.

"Of course the bad men are dead, they won't hurt anyone anymore," he replied reassuringly.

"No, not them," Inari shook his head. "They," he pointed at the bodies of the unlucky villagers. Tazuna suddenly felt ashamed. How didn't he realize what the problem was earlier? He searched for words of comfort, but everything sounded lame to him. What could he say to a child who just saw his friends die? This was almost as bad as when Kaiza was killed.

"They protected our homes," he said. "It was worth dying for."

"But they're still dead," Inari pointed out. Tazuna couldn't deny it.

"It isn't your fault," he tried to alleviate the boy's guilt, but he could have stayed silent for all the good it did.

"It is," Inari insisted. "I led them here."

"They chose to follow you freely. They wanted to fight Gatou. They died happy that their dreams were fulfilled." The old man could only hope that the child would understand.

"But they're still dead. And it's my fault," Inari repeated before breaking into tears again. Tazuna sighed deeply and hugged him closer. He had been mistaken when he thought this was almost like after Kaiza. This was even worse.

Some time later, he noticed a crowd had gathered around, the people looking at him expectantly. He didn't want to face them, but he couldn't hide from them any longer. He pushed Inari into Tsunami's waiting arms and stood up. He cleared his throat. He felt like this was the time for a passionate speech, but once again words eluded him. It was no wonder; he was no diplomat or bard, just a bridge builder. And he felt completely out of his depth in this kind of situations. Couldn't the people see it? He tried to remember the times he saw the village mayor speaking at some memorable occasion. What did he say first? Tazuna took a deep breath and began.

"Thank you." That couldn't be a mistake. "Thank you all for coming here today and fighting in this battle. You were all super brave." Once he got rolling, the words seemed to come on their own. "Thanks to you all, we got rid of the super-tyrant Gatou today and won a super victory. Thanks to all of you, we can now go home and live our lives in peace and prosperity. So let's take care of our wounded now and then we can finally finish this super bridge and live super happily ever after!" If he had expected a huge ovation, he would have been disappointed. But most of the people seemed less somber now. He thought he even glimpsed somebody smiling, though he couldn't be sure. For the first time in what felt like eternity, he felt that things might get better for the Wave Country. Then he turned around, looking at the sobbing form of Inari huddled in his mother's arms. Now if only things got better for his family as well.

=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=

Naruto tied the last bandage. He was no medic nin, but he was reasonably sure he had done a good job. As far as he could tell, Haku was going to live. There was still the question of what would become of the older boy if he indeed survived, but the blond decided to postpone it for later. He looked up into the face of the silent ghost following the ice user.

"He's going to survive," he whispered. The translucent figure smiled and nodded. The boy felt like she shouldn't be thanking him yet. He had helped the Hyouton wielder, but he felt like it wasn't enough. Haku needed professional medical attention and he couldn't give him that. He couldn't even take care of him properly. Because despite the boy's help, he had helped the enemy. He doubted that Kakashi would welcome him with open arms. His teammates won't either and ditto for the natives. Wait, very few people ever saw the face of Zabuza's helper. In fact, he was sure that none of the locals knew just who the boy was. That sounded like a plan.

Naruto climbed to his feet. He still felt tired, but at least his legs weren't shaking anymore. So what was he supposed to do next? There was something nagging at his mind, but he couldn't decipher what it was. From what he could see, his teammates seemed alright. He caught the closest person and pointed him to where Haku lay, telling him to take care of the boy. It was all he could do for him. He could only hope that it would be enough. Naruto then decided just to wonder around and see if anybody needed his assistance. It didn't take him long to realize that those who truly needed help were beyond his meager abilities, so he headed to where Sakura's distinctive red dress shone through the crowd. The kunoichi had convinced a group of villagers to help her and they were now putting Kakashi's unconscious body on a makeshift stretcher.

"Naruto!" the girl greeted when she spotted him. He noted that this might be the first time she was genuinely happy to see him. But then her face turned serious again. "This looks familiar, doesn't it?"

"Yes," the boy nodded, remembering the aftermath of their first clash with Zabuza. "Is it chakra exhaustion again?" She nodded. "I just hope it isn't going to become a habit."

"_Like his latecoming and flimsy excuses," _Obito added. The ghost still looked spooked, but his good humor was returning. Naruto smiled. He decided to consider it a good omen.

The villagers finished strapping the jounin to the stretcher and picked up Sasuke.

"Careful," Sakura commanded, her voice filled with worry.

"_Yes, careful with my son, you scum," _Fugaku sneered. He seemed as arrogant as ever.

"_Don't hurt my baby," _Mikoto added. She sounded genuinely worried, her clan pride being abandoned, if only temporarily.

"_Didn't you always say that the Uchiha are made from sturdier stuff?" _Obito asked sarcastically. He was almost back to his old self now.

"_Don't bother my son, trash," _Fugaku suggested.

Naruto sighed. The ghosts were at it again. And then he startled. Didn't they disappear earlier? He looked around. He realized that there were much less deceased Uchiha than there used to be. Sasuke's parents were hovering near their offspring's body, offering unwanted, but thankfully unheard advice to the villagers securing it on the stretcher, and he could see several at the edge of the bridge, looking his direction warily, but that was all. If he counted it right, a good half of the slaughtered clan was gone and the other half was terrified of something. It almost looked like they were scared of him. But the ghosts were never scared of him before. What did it mean? He was sure that it was something important, but he felt too tired to think about it. He wanted just to lie down on the bridge and sleep for a day straight. He'd think about it tomorrow.

"Let's go," Sakura's soft voice brought him out of his musings. He looked up to see that the villagers had lifted the stretchers and were carrying them towards the end of the bridge.

"Yeah, let's go," he agreed. He could just see the bed with his name on it. It seemed so inviting. Everything else could wait.


	19. Chapter 19

**Author's note:** I promised you another chapter soon and here it is. And for those that complained about the last couple of chapters being shore, this one is longer.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto.

**Through the Eyes of Death**

Naruto sat in the living room of Tazuna's house. He was alone. Inari was still crying and Tsunami was still trying to calm him down. Tazuna was with them, hovering in the background. Kakashi and Sasuke were still out of it and Sakura was taking care of them. That left him alone with his thoughts.

Merely hours have passed since the battle, but they felt like days. Despite his exhausted state, he wasn't able to fall asleep. But he felt better now. Kyuubi was working his magic, healing all his wounds and slowly restoring his energy. That left him with nothing to do but think. And he had a lot to think about.

Foremost was the matter of the Uchiha ghosts. Why did they disappear so suddenly during the battle? Why were they scared? And why were some of them missing? Even if some had returned later, there still wasn't as many of them as there used to be. So the big question was: what could affect a spirit?

He thought back on the battle, trying to remember when was the last time he had seen them and when did he notice their absence. Unfortunately his memories were a bit jumbled by the haze of Kyuubi's rage. So what could he recall clearly?

He remembered the sight of Sasuke collapsing on the ground, numerous senbon protruding from his neck. The Uchiha clan panicked. He could easily recall Mikoto's frantic screams. Then the rage and bloodlust overcame him and he didn't know anymore until he was standing above Haku, looking into the ice wielder's terrified eyes. Were the ghosts still there? He couldn't remember. First he had to deal with Haku and then he worried about Sasuke. Then Kakashi and Obito arrived and it was then that he realized they were alone. So what had happened between the two points in time? The answer was obvious: he used the Kyuubi's chakra. That was a pretty scary thing. He could imagine that the ghosts would run in panic, but was that all? Were they merely scared by the sight of the worst terror to ever come knocking at Konoha's door or was the chakra really dangerous for them? Or was it something entirely different, that had nothing to do with the kitsune? He wished he knew. He could always ask, but the Uchiha as a whole were generally uncooperative. But maybe Obito could tell him. And if he couldn't, he'd have to try it again. And for that, he'd need to figure out how to use Kyuubi's chakra at will, without losing his mind. Maybe he should do that anyway. That extra boost of power would come in handy in tough battles. But he'd wait until he felt better. Probably until the mission was over. With that thought, he finally drifted to sleep.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

He was woken up by a high-pitched shriek. He sat up abruptly, causing the sword aiming at his neck to miss. It impacted with the floor with a loud thud. His sleepy mind quickly analyzed the facts. There were five people with him in the room, all of them armed and dangerous. They were under attack. Stupid! He cursed himself. He didn't station his Shadow Clones around the house because he had been too tired yesterday. And he knew that some of Gatou's goons weren't dead. Careless! An Academy student would have done better! And now they were all paying for his negligence.

He sprang to his feet, batting away a throwing knife. He tried to assess the situation quickly. The enemy had the advantage of numbers, he could tell there were more thugs in the house than he saw in front of him, and even if they didn't have ninja training, it didn't seem to matter. Only he and Sakura were in fighting condition and he couldn't be sure about the girl. Was it her shriek that woke him up? Or did they get the drop on her and she was already dead? He didn't know, but he had to find out. And for that, he had to dispose of the five men currently facing him.

He ducked under the sword swipe of the goon on his left and grabbed his extended forearm. With a sharp tug, he lifted him off the ground and threw him into his neighbor. Both of them tumbled to the ground, the first man shrieking as something in his elbow snapped. Naruto didn't give them time to get back up, he stomped on the upper man's torso and used it as a springboard to make a jumping kick at the man originally standing in the middle. That particular mercenary turned out to be better than his peers. He dodged the genin's attack and swiped his sword at the blond's unprotected back. Naruto's eyes widened in surprise, but he reacted quickly. He grabbed a kunai and blocked the swing. But now he landed in a disadvantageous position between the last two goons. And they were quick to capitalize on it.

The soft whistle of a blade slicing the air was all the warning he had. He threw himself to the ground, but he could still feel the tip of a sword sliding along his ribs. And then he barely deflected a stab from the other one. He twisted on the ground and kicked. His heel connected with the sword-wielders knee. There was a loud snap and the goon collapsed wailing. Naruto grabbed a kunai with his free hand and stabbed it into the knife-user's thigh. That man was out of the fight too. Only two remained now.

The swordsman who had avoided Naruto's attack earlier once again proved his speed. He was already above Naruto, slashing his sword downwards with all his might. The orange-clad genin had to use both of his kunai to block the attack and it still pushed him onto the floor. He cursed inwardly. Was the enemy that good or was he that week? It didn't really matter. He just had to defeat him anyway. He kicked, aiming at the mercenary's stomach. But the target was too far away and the hit barely touched him. Then the man straightened up, poising his sword for another slash. Naruto used the moment to throw his kunai, one aiming at his face and the other at his stomach. The swordsman batted the first one away and the second one was stopped by his armor. Then he turned back to the downed shinobi. Only to see a chair in his place. Naruto had escaped via Kawarimi. Before the swordsman could find out where did his prey go, he felt a kunai entering his neck. The genin used his moment of surprise to the max.

Pulling the kunai out of the dead man's throat, he turned to the last opponent still in fighting condition. The thug, seeing his comrades being dispatched, tried to run and was already in the door. Naruto rushed after him. He reached him quickly, smashing his head with the blunt end of a kunai with such force that the skull broke. _I wanted just to stun him, _he thought, but he shed no tears for the bandit. Then he returned to the dining room to take care of the two who despite their injuries were still conscious. And then he rushed to see what happened to his team.

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Sakura felt useless. Today's battle had been an eye-opener for her. She was the Kunoichi of the Year, but suddenly the title felt empty. She couldn't do anything against the Mist nukenin. She could barely hold her own against a band of mere goons and even then she had needed Kakashi to save her. And she wasn't even able to help Sasuke when he was wounded. She gazed at the face of her beloved. He looked so pale she had to reassure herself constantly that he was still alive. She was even unable to make him better. Once again, Kakashi was needed to treat him. Was there anything she was actually good at? Well, there was always looking good and flower-arranging, but that seemed completely unimportant now. Even her book smarts, which had helped her earn her Academy title, had little meaning in the real word. She swore that she would train harder until she actually became the best kunoichi. It didn't matter that she swore the same a hundred times this day, she felt like there couldn't be enough of it.

She felt her eyes drooping. She pinched herself. She had to stay away in case there were any complications with the patients. At least that she should be able to do right. But it was becoming harder and harder with each passing minute. Today had been exhausting and she felt it dearly. But she couldn't fall asleep. She had to stay alert or she would prove herself a complete failure of a kunoichi. She could just see it. She could see Sasuke and Kakashi opening their dead eyes, looking at her accusingly, demanding to know why she wasn't strong enough to save them.

She started awake with a jolt. Did she drift off? She must have; both Sasuke and Kakashi were still asleep and the room was dark. But something still didn't feel right. What could it be? She yawned. Did it really matter what it was? She was so tired, she just wanted to sleep. Sure Sasuke and Kakashi would be fine on their own? No, she couldn't abandon them now. She had to stay with them until somebody could relieve her. But she wasn't sure she could stay awake for a single minute longer. Maybe she should go and wake Naruto and make him stand guard? Yes, that sounded like a good idea. That boy already had enough sleep, so he could stay awake for a while now.

Just as she was about to stand up, a soft sound caught her attention. What was it? She couldn't tell, but she was almost certain that the same noise had roused her earlier. And that it didn't belong in Tazuna's household. Her tiredness was temporarily pushed back by a surge of adrenaline. Something about this situation said 'danger' to her.

She stood up slowly, trying to pierce the surrounding darkness with her eyes. Nothing. Yet the shadows seemed ominous to her, made even darker by the single candle burning in the middle of the room. She shook her head. She was probably just overreacting. It was a testimony of how high-strung she was. What was there to fear? Gatou was defeated and his minions scattered. There was nothing to fear anymore.

She wanted to relax again, when a sudden, loud sound made her turned around. She found herself faced with an ogre, a huge armored figure with terrifying face charging at her with a spiked club in his hands. She felt like her heard was about to jump out of her throat. She screamed.

Then her ninja instincts kicked in and she flung herself back, the spiked club missing her by a hair's breadth. She was sure she heard it tearing her dress. She rolled on the ground, grabbing a kunai as she jumped to her feet. She looked at her assailant again. Now she wasn't panicking, she could see that he was no monster. It was just a man, a big one dressed in old and battered and probably stolen samurai armor with a horned helmet, his face covered by a grotesque painted mask. She always used to laugh when she had heard about that custom, because who would be scared of a mask, honestly? But now she had to admit it had merit. The meager light and the shadows cast by the candle made it look like the mask were alive, baring its teeth in a bloodthirsty grin. But now she knew what it was, she wasn't scared of it anymore. It was just a mask. It couldn't hurt her. The club in his hands was a different story. And so were the three friends its owner brought. Sakura cursed. This was going to be a bothersome battle.

She quickly exchanged herself with a table. That put her right behind the back of one of the attackers. She swung her kunai with all her might and buried it in his back. The man let out a gurgle and collapsed to the ground, pulling Sakura's kunai with him. His comrades turned swiftly around, their swords already poised to strike her down. She jumped back, fumbling for another kunai. She startled when she realized it was the last one she had. She had used up most of her stock during the battle on the bridge and she didn't bother to gather them. Staying with her wounded teammates seemed more important at the moment. Now she was paying for the mistake.

"**We are going to win! Shannaro!" **Inner Sakura cheered. **"Some thugs aren't enough to defeat us!" **

_That's right, _Sakura agreed. _We studied and trained for years. Let's put it to good use._

"**Yes! For Sasuke-kun!"**

_For Sasuke-kun!_

She brought her hands up and with a short sequence of seals summoned three clones.

"That trick again?" one of the mercenaries scoffed. "What makes you think it's going to work now, girl?"

_Oh no, it already worked, _Sakura thought, smirking inwardly. The Bunshin served as a smokescreen that allowed her to perform a Kawarimi unobserved. Once again, she was behind the goons. The bandits attacked the clones, dispelling them. Then one of the men suddenly collapsed as Sakura's kunai cut through his jugular.

_Two down__, two more to go, _Sakura grinned.

"**We're the best! Shannaro!"**

Then a fist impacted with her head and sent her flying. The kunoichi impacted with the wall and collapsed to her knees dazed. She lifted her head to see what had hit her just as a foot slammed into her stomach. She could only grimace painfully and fall to the floor. She got kicked again, this time in the ribs. It felt like some of them broke. As she struggled to breath, a hand grabbed her hair and yanked her up roughly. She blinked at her captor. It was the big guy in the samurai armor.

"So you think you are tough, bitch," he growled. His voice was just as ugly as his appearance. He nudged her ribs with his knee, in the same spot he had kicked before. The genin cried out in pain. "Not so tough now, are you?" She didn't answer. He slapped her. "Answer me, bitch!"

"No," she replied barely above a whisper.

"What was that? I didn't hear you."

"No," she repeated louder.

"That's better, woman," he replied, slapping her again. "So you thought you can kill my men?" When she didn't react, he hit her again. "Well, I don't take kindly to it. I am going to make you pay for it every day of the rest of your life. But first, I'm going to repay you in kind." Though she couldn't see his face, she was sure he was grinning manically. "Fusashi!" he called. His last remaining underling appeared from the shadows.

"Yes, Kishin?"

"Kill those two," the large one pointed at the unconscious forms of Sasuke and Kakashi. "And take your time."

"With pleasure," Fusashi grinned insanely, sheathed his sword and took out a dagger. "So which one should I start with? The big one? Or the little one? And what should I cut off first? What do you say?"

Sakura watched with horror. No, this cannot be happening. She had failed again, lost the fight and now Sasuke-kun and Kakashi-sensei were going to be killed. Tortured to death. And there was nothing she could do about it. She really was a failure of a kunoichi. She could only watch as the others fought. And every time she had to fight, she had to be saved. She felt tears welling in the corners of her eyes. She welcomed them. She didn't want to see what was going to happen now.

"**What's that? We are kunoichi! We fight!" **Inner Sakura cried in outrage.

_How can we fight? _Sakura asked in resignation. _We've already lost._

"**No, we didn't,"** her alter-ego disagreed. **"As long as we are alive, we can fight. There's always a way."**

_But what can we do? _Sakura asked, clenching her fists in frustration. She felt the edge of her kunai biting into her palm. _Wait, the kunai? _She had completely forgotten she was still clutching it. And Kishin had missed it either, or he just didn't care, thinking that his armor would protect him. It didn't really matter which was it, what mattered was that she had a weapon. She could fight.

She blinked away her tears, covertly looking around, assessing the situation. One glance at her captor's armor revealed that it was quality work. With her insufficient strength, she wasn't guaranteed to be able to cut through it and even then she probably wouldn't cause enough damage and her only weapon would most likely get stuck, leaving her defenseless. So that option was out. What about Fusashi?

She nearly gasped when she saw the man. He was kneeling above Sasuke, his dagger poised about the prone boy's throat, ready to slice it. She had to do something and she had to do it now. Her first instinct was to throw her kunai, but she suppressed it. That man wore armor too and even though she could see several weak spots, they were all small, and with her head still reeling from the blow, her hands shaking with fear and exhaustion and her vision obscured by darkness and tears, she wasn't guaranteed to hit even at such a short distance. And she had only one shot for this. She had to attack him personally, but that was nigh impossible, considering his buddy was holding her by her hair and showed no intention of letting go anytime soon. Wait, maybe there was something she could do.

With a roar full of rage and desperation, she brought her hand up and with one swift moment cut through her hair. Kishin blinked in surprise that the weight in his hand was suddenly gone, but he regained his bearings swiftly. He swung his spiked club, but hit only thin air. Sakura had pushed her chakra to her legs and leapt forward, escaping his attack narrowly.

Fusashi looked up in surprise when he heard the shriek. His eyes widened in shock when he saw a red fury charging at him. But he was a professional fighter and his body reacted even without its mind telling it what to do. He turned to her and poised his dagger at her, so she would impale herself with her next step. But Sakura was a trained kunoichi and no matter how hurt and exhausted she was, her reflexes were still superior to his. She veered to the left, avoiding the outstretched blade. Her right hand sprang forward, burying the kunai in his face. The steel tip broke through the skull and embedded itself deep inside his brain. His eyes rolled back in his head and he fell backwards, taking Sakura's last kunai with him.

The girl cursed. She was unarmed, again! It was really getting old. But she didn't let despair overcome her. She lunged after the dagger in Fusashi's dead hands. She almost made it when Kishin's club impacted with them. Only a lightning-fast reaction saved her from losing her fingers. She gazed at the armored man with fear. Even through his mask, she was able to tell that he was furious.

"Now you did it," he growled, lifting his weapon, preparing to smash her. She jumped back swiftly. Kishin swung his weapon down. Only then she realized that she wasn't his target. He was aiming at Sasuke! She dashed forward to help her love. Or at least that was the plan. Instead her foot slipped on a puddle of somebody's blood and she fell. Her heart nearly stopped with despair. She wasn't going to make it.

There was a sudden orange blur and something slammed into Kishin, making him miss. She could hear several hits and then the unmistakable sound of a blade sliding into flesh. The big man jerked once and then went limp.

"That will teach you to attack my teammates," a familiar voice stated.

"Naruto!" At that moment, Sakura would kiss her blond teammate.

"Sakura! Are you alright?"

"Yes," she nodded. "You?"

"Me too."

"Who were they?" she asked.

"What remained of Gatou's men," he explained. "I should have realized that they'll try something."

"I should have realized it too," the pinkette replied. "I'm supposed to be the smart one."

"It doesn't matter now," the boy shrugged. "They're dealt with for good. But I should send my clones to guard the house anyway. There might be more."

Just as he said it, a loud crash was heard.

"Tazuna!" Naruto shouted in alarm. He wanted to kick himself. How he could have left the client unprotected? It was what they were there for, after all. He dashed from the room. Sakura raced at his heels. Covering the distance to the bridge builder's room took them only seconds. Naruto threw the door open, pausing at the sight inside the room. The old man was there, along with his family. All of them looked scared. They had a good reason. Six thugs were with them as well, three of them holding their knives at their captives' throats. As the genin burst in, one of them turned to him.

"Move and they will die."


	20. Chapter 20

**Author's note:** Sorry this chapter took so long. I don't have an excuse. I hope I'll be able to finishe the next one sooner, but I can't make any promises.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto.

**Through the Eyes ****of Death**

As Naruto stared into the room, he wanted to kick himself. Hard. How could he have been so stupid to allow the thugs to not only get into the house, but take his client and his family hostage? And how could he have been so stupid not to create a bunch of clones beforehand? Now he was forbidden to move, so he couldn't do anything. He was tempted to blame it on his exhaustion, but that was really no excuse. Maybe he could blame it on his inexperience instead. He had heard a lot about all kinds of battles and ambushes, but he hadn't been in a war-like situation before. Now all the advice was coming to him and he could already tell how much of it he had broken today.

"Throw away your weapons or they will die, boy," the leader of the mercenaries spoke, waking the genin from his daydreaming. Naruto saw he had no option but to obey. He reluctantly moved to unstrap his kunai pouch. It was almost empty now anyway. And then something hit him. The rogue had said 'boy.' Did that mean... he made a quick check. Yes. Sakura wasn't in the room with him. She was still free. Maybe they still had a chance. It depended on how the kunoichi would act. As he dropped his pouch, he wished she would do something soon.

{}-{}-{}-{}-{}-{}-{}-{}-{}-{}-{}-{}

Sakura, meanwhile, was standing in the hallway, her heart racing. The thugs have captured Tazuna! And now Naruto was neutralized as well. Stupid baka. And just when she had thought he was actually smart under his ridiculous exterior. Now she was the only free, uninjured ninja in the house and saving the day was up to her. But what could she do? Her book smarts were no use against a sword. She had always relied on her teammates to protect her.

_**Get a grip of yourself,**_ Inner Sakura shouted. _**We saved Sasuke-kun, didn't we? **_Sakura's hand touched her newly-shorn hair. That was right. She might be the weakest on the team, but she was still plenty strong. She could still fight. But what could she do? She couldn't throw anything into the room without hitting either Naruto or the hostages. She couldn't put them all under her genjutsu as well and she couldn't see how it would help if she did. They didn't need to see where their captives were when they were holding their daggers to their throats. And the only other thing she could do was tree-walking and what good it was in this situation? Wait, maybe...

[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]

Naruto's pouch dropped to the floor with a loud thud. The genin looked at the thugs questioningly.

"Good boy," the leader grinned maliciously. "Now kick the pouch to me." The blond obeyed. All the time he looked for something he could do to salvage the situation, because he didn't want to lay all their hopes on Sakura, but he couldn't see anything.

The chief mercenary bent down to lift the pouch. At the same time, the thug holding Inari collapsed dead to the ground and the one restraining Tazuna let go of the old man, his hand touching the kunai protruding from his throat, wondering how did it get there. The leader straightened in surprise, looking what happened. Naruto saw his cue. He launched forward with a jumping kick, hitting the man in the face and snapping his neck. The two unoccupied goons started after him, but one was hit with a kunai to his back and the other with Naruto's fist in the stomach, followed with a knee to his face. He collapsed on the ground, either unconscious or dead.

Only the man holding Tsunami remained. He was standing in the corner, holding the young woman in front of him as a shield. He was pressing the dagger into her throat so hard that a few droplets of blood appeared. Naruto thanked all the gods he never bothered to pray to that he didn't slash her throat. But maybe the man realized that if he killed her, there would be nothing preventing the ninja from killing him.

"Let me go or I'll kill her!" he shouted. He probably meant to make it sound threateningly, but it came off as scared instead.

"Let go of mum!" Inari shouted.

"What about you let her go and we won't kill you?" Naruto suggested.

"Let me go or I will kill her," the thug repeated. He was now shaking visibly, which was dangerous for his hostage. He could slice her jugular anytime without meaning to. Naruto pondered several things he could say to make him let go, but the man was too scared to be reasoned with.

Then he noticed a movement out of the corner of his eye. While he was talking to the goon, Sakura had entered the room via the window and was now creeping quietly towards the mercenary. The man didn't notice her yet. Now if Naruto could keep his attention away from her...

"If you kill her, I'm going to kill you, slowly," the orange-clad genin spoke, twisting his face into the most bloodthirsty grimace he could muster. "And I know a lot of ways to kill a person slowly and painfully." It was true. The ghosts have described quite a lot of unpleasant ways to die. "Do you want me to describe some? No? That's a pity, because I'm going to do it anyway. What to start with? Hm, let's say, the one with skinning somebody by parts? Or the one with slow roasting? The one with the wild bees is good too. And the ants. Oh, the ants, my favorite. But that one is too quick, so maybe something else. And there's that one scorpion whose poison..."

As Naruto spoke, the thug became paler and paler and his shaking intensified. "L-let me go," he stammered. "Or I will k-kill her."

"No, you won't," Naruto replied evenly.

"I will!" the goon threatened.

"You won't. And do you want to know why?" the blond genin asked. Instead of an answer, Sakura latched onto his arm, dragging it and the dagger away from Tsunami's throat. The terrified woman collapsed to her knees. Simultaneously Naruto jumped at the bandit, punching him in the throat. The man's windpipe broke with a crunch.

"That's why."

.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.

It was the next evening when Kakashi finally awoke. Both his uninjured students were grateful for it. Neither of them dared to sleep since the attack and now they were barely able to keep their eyes open. They both prayed that no other attack would happen, because they weren't sure they would be able to fight it off again. Naruto certainly felt like he couldn't fight off Konohamaru in his current condition. But with Kakashi awake, things seemed brighter, despite the jounin not being in fighting condition either. Even Sasuke's condition was improving, his breathing becoming deeper and steadier and his heartbeat regular, which delighted his ghostly entourage so much they forgot to insult Naruto.

The orange clad genin was happy that his sensei and teammate were getting better, but the look Kakashi gave him worried him. Even as Sakura was fussing over her idol, reverting back to her fangirl behavior in his presence, Kakashi's one visible eye was measuring him intently. The boy knew that the jounin would want to talk, but here wasn't the right time and place. But he'd demand an explanation, at the latest when they reached Konoha. Naruto wasn't looking forward to it. It was the only thing ruining his mood.

The repairs of the bridge went smoothly. Now Gatou was gone and his goons scattered, the villagers weren't afraid anymore. Even the few incidents when the rogue swordsmen mugged somebody couldn't scare them again. Tazuna had no shortage of workers to repair the damage done to the bridge during the battle. Soon the great bridge connecting Wave and Fire countries was completed.

Both Kakashi and Sasuke were back on their feet by the time the bridge was finished. They were still a bit shaky on their feet, but they didn't let it bother them. Soon, the day of parting came.

Team 7 was standing near the end of the bridge, Tazuna, his family and what seemed like half of the population of the whole Wave Country gathered around to see them off. Inari stood straight at the front of the crowd, accompanied only by his living family. When the boy had found his courage and the Wave Country has been freed, the brave fisherman's spirit had finally found his peace and moved on. It was something Naruto was immensely glad for. Being able to actually help a tortured spirit wasn't something he accomplished often.

"Don't go," the small boy pleaded with teary eyes.

"Sorry, Inari, but I have to," Naruto replied.

"You can stay home with us," the child suggested.

"My home is in Konoha," the genin pointed out.

"But who's going to protect us when you aren't here?" Inari questioned.

"You did a good job of protecting yourselves," Naruto replied. "So grow strong and you will be safe." Inari nodded.

"I'm going to miss you," he said.

"I'll miss you too," the blond said. "You know what? I'm going to write you. That way we can keep in touch even if you're here and I'm in Konoha. And who knows, maybe once I'll be sent on a mission somewhere around here and I might be able to visit." That brought a smile at the younger boy's face.

"Okay," Inari agreed. "Come again soon."

That was when Tsunami decided to interject. "That's enough, Inari," she said grabbing her son's hand. "They have to leave or they won't make it home in time." The boy nodded sadly. Naruto smiled at him encouragingly.

After that it was time to really say goodbye. Inari was holding back tears, but he didn't try to stop them anymore. Team Seven took on the journey home to Konoha.

As the villagers gathered near the bridge watched their saviors' backs disappear in the distance, Tazuna asked: "So how are we going to call the bridge?" There was a moment of silence. Then people began shouting their suggestions.

"The Bridge of Freedom!" "The Bridge of Hope!" "The Bridge of Battle!" "The Bridge of Sacrifice!"

Tazuna listened for a while. Then he voiced his opinion. "I have a better idea. Let's call it the Great Naruto Bridge!"

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*

The moonlight streamed through the open window. It was illuminating the cracks in the old, broken floor and the ragged sheets covering the body of a youth, tracing the silhouette of his face. Haku sighed as the light shone in his eyes. He won't be able to sleep tonight too. He was tired, so tired, yet his mind stubbornly insisted on staying awake.

How long had it been since the battle on the bridge? He had no idea. The first days were jumbled in one big blur in his memory. But it must have been well over a week, maybe even two. Tears welled in his eyes as he remembered the day. How could it have happened? How did the boy break through his Ice Mirrors Prison? And why wasn't he able to help Zabuza-sama? How could he have let himself to be knocked out when his master had needed him? What kind of weapon he was?

And why was he still alive? That was the one thing he couldn't understand. He had expected to be killed or at least left for dead after his last act of revenge against Gatou. But when he had found himself instead lying on a bunk in a hut, a fisherman's family caring for him, he was completely confused. Why were they doing it? Wasn't he their enemy? But when he asked, the elderly couple just smiled and proceeded to treat his wounds.

So he remained in their care and wondered why he was still alive after failing his master so badly. He should have died, because his purpose of being alive was gone. What was there to live for now? He didn't know. All he could see in his future was a long, bleak loneliness. The couple taking care of him was kind enough, but even after the days spent in their care, they were still strangers to him. They couldn't understand the world he lived in and he couldn't understand theirs. As soon as he could stand up, he had began helping them with housework to repay their care, but he knew he couldn't abuse their hospitability forever. The moment he'd feel strong enough to travel he'd leave. But where would he go? That was a question he couldn't answer. No place in the world felt alluring without Zabuza-sama there.

The moonlight was suddenly blocked by a shadow. Haku lifted his head, his shinobi instincts kicking in. Somebody was there. Did the Konoha shinobi come back to kill him? If so, they'd find out he wasn't an easy target. He might be unarmed, but he could still fight. Then the question occurred to him: why was he fighting for his life when Zabuza-sama was dead? He didn't know, but faced with immediate danger, something in him still wanted to live.

The person at the window moved and Haku recognized him.

"Zabuza-sama?" he whispered. He couldn't believe his eyes. How could his master be still alive when he had seen his mutilated body? Or was it his ghost, coming to haunt him for failing him? "Zabuza-sama, I'm sorry," the boy sobbed. "I'm sorry for failing you. It's because of me that you are now dead."

"What are you talking about?" Zabuza's familiar voice asked. It sounded strained and tired and there was a hint of pain. He climbed through the window and walked slowly towards Haku's bed. Now the boy could see him clearer. The Kiri nukenin had rough bandages around his chest and he looked paler and thinner. It was obvious that walking was a strain for him.

"Zabuza-sama, you are alive?" the Hyouton wielder whispered in disbelief.

"Of course," the Demon of the Mist replied. "What did you think I was? A ghost?" Haku blushed.

"But how?" The boy couldn't understand.

"Kakashi nearly got me," the Swordsman explained, "but the wound wasn't quite fatal. I managed to crawl off the bridge and swim to the shore. There I just hid and concentrated on staying alive."

"I'm sorry I wasn't there to help you," Haku apologized. He felt ashamed for sleeping in a bed when his master had to spend the time of his convalescence on the hard, cold ground.

"You were wounded yourself," the swordsman pointed out.

"My wounds weren't as bad as yours," the ice wielder argued. "And it was my fault you were injured. I wasn't able to protect you."

"Don't feel so down about it, Haku," Zabuza assured him. "I'm tough. They were stronger. Such things happen. But now we're together again, let's get out of here."

"Yes, Zabuza-sama," the boy nodded. He got out of his bed and they left the small hut, Haku supporting his master. He didn't mind having to strain himself so much when he was still suffering from his injuries. He was with Zabuza-sama again. That was all that mattered. Everything was right with the world.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

The campfire was burning brightly, casting light on the faces of the four travelers gathered around it. Without a client to slow them down, Team 7 had made good time on their journey and would reach the gates of Konoha tomorrow. It was quiet for once. Sakura wasn't trying to invite Sasuke on a date and even the Uchiha's ghosts weren't insulting anybody. Therefore everyone was startled when Kakashi broke the silence.

"So Naruto, didn't you want to tell us something?" The young genin startled. He glanced at his sensei. The masked man was sitting with his face buried in his orange book, looking so focused on reading that Naruto was tempted to write the question off as a figment of his imagination. The only problem was that Sasuke and Sakura reacted to it too.

"Like I'd want to hear anything the dobe says," Sasuke scoffed.

"_That's right. Don't listen to him, son."_

"What is it, Naruto?" Sakura asked.

"Nothing," the orange-clad boy replied.

"But Naruto really wants to tell you something, just doesn't know how," Kakashi said, still hidden behind his book.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto shouted. He had a sinking feeling that he knew what Kakashi wanted him to speak about and he really didn't want to reveal it.

Obito leaned closer to him and looked at him intently. _"Hey, Naruto, I think you should really tell them. I have some words for Kakashi-baka and I want you to relay them." _But the genin still wasn't convinced. He had spent too long keeping his secret that he had trouble imagining doing otherwise.

"I can't," he whispered.

"Uhm, Naruto, who are you talking to?" Sakura asked. It was that moment that Naruto realized he had spoken to an apparently empty patch of air. Curse it, he did it again. He forgot about the boundary between the living and the dead.

"Talking to empty air is a sign of insanity," Kakashi stated, for the first time lifting his eye from the book.

"I'm not insane," the blond boy protested.

"Really?" the jounin raised an eyebrow. "You're not doing a very good job of convincing me."

"So?" Naruto shrugged.

"We can't really afford to have insane shinobi in the field," the masked man informed him.

"What?" the orange-clad boy asked in horror.

"You heard me," Kakashi shrugged, seemingly uncaring. "Either you can convince me that you aren't crazy or..."

Naruto couldn't believe his ears. Did his sensei really threaten him with kicking him off the team? But what could he do? Saying 'I can see dead people' would hardly help.

"I already explained..." the boy started.

"No, you didn't," the one-eyed ninja corrected. "You made an excuse. I let it slide because we had other pressing matters to worry about, but now it's a good time. So please tell."

Naruto felt cornered. He couldn't see a way out of this situation. If he told them nothing, Kakashi would think he was crazy. If he told them the truth, they would all think he's insane. And if he lied, Kakashi would know. He glanced at his teammates. Both Sakura and Sasuke were watching him intently, though the Uchiha was pretending he wasn't interested at all.

"_Just tell them,"_ Obito prompted. _"Trust them, they would believe you. And if not, I can tell you some embarrassing stories about Kakashi. That should convince him."_ Naruto still didn't like it, but he had to admit that the ghost was right. Convincing Kakashi about his abilities was the best course of action. But he still felt more apprehension than before a battle.

"Alright," he said. "I'm going to tell you."


	21. Chapter 21

**Author's note:** Wow, I didn't get such reviewer response in such a short time ever before to any of my stories. Hereby I apologize to everybody for putting the cliffhanger on the end of the previous chapter. Your prompting helped me complete the next chapter so soon. Please accept some Kakashi-torture as an offering of peace.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto.

**Through the Eyes of Death**

"You know, Naruto, this isn't convincing me much," Kakashi stated. _Well, it wasn't like I expected him to believe me immediately, _the genin thought. _At least he didn't take out the straightjacket._

"But it is the truth," the blond boy insisted. "I can see human souls. The living and the dead. I can even talk to them."

"The dobe went finally crazy," Sasuke scoffed. Sakura just looked at him oddly.

"It looks like you're going to need some proof," Naruto sighed. "Didn't expect anything else. Well, Kakashi-sensei, there's a ghost named Obito following you around." The look of shock was apparent on the jounin's face even through his mask. Naruto had to bite his lip not to laugh. Obito had no such restraints and collapsed to the ground in a fit of laughter.

"Where did you hear the name?" the silver-haired man demanded.

"From him," the blond replied. "He introduced himself during out first meeting."

"If this is your idea of a joke, it isn't funny," Kakashi stated.

"This isn't a joke. I'm being serious for once," Naruto assured him. "But I'll have to tell you something only you and Obito would know to convince you, wouldn't I?"

"_Just tell him about our bell test," _Obito suggested. _"It's plenty embarrassing and no-one else remembers it."_

"Okay," Naruto agreed, while his teammates watched him warily. "Talk and I'll repeat it."

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

The day was bright and sunny and the birds were chirping happily on the training field. The group of two genin and one chuunin was watching the jounin warily.

"Is everything clear?" Namikaze Minato asked with a slight smile playing on his lips.

"But there are only two bells," Rin pointed out.

"Good observation ability," the jounin said. The team couldn't be sure whether he really meant it or whether he was being sarcastic. "That means one of you is going to lose and be sent back to the Academy."

"I can't be sent back to the Academy," Kakashi stated, proud of his chuunin status. "And I am capable of doing missions without those two."

"Hey!" Obito shouted. "I'm an Uchiha! I'm better than you." The expression on the visible part of Kakashi's face said clearly what he thought about the statement.

"No, but you can be sent to the reserves," Minato informed him. Kakashi startled. "Yes," the golden-haired jounin confirmed, "if you cannot even pass a simple test meant for genin, how can you serve in the field as a chuunin?" The silver-haired prodigy had no answer. "If there are no more questions, let's begin." Nothing happened for a minute. "Well? What are you waiting for? There isn't that much time left."

Quite predictably, Obito attacked first. Minato sidestepped his charge easily, making the Uchiha fly past him. Obito turned and attacked again, with the same result. On the third attempt he threw a handful of shuriken. The jounin blocked them with a kunai.

"Is that all?" Minato questioned.

"Of course not!" Obito shouted confidently. "Never underestimate the power of an Uchiha!" His fingers ran through a series of seals. "Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" He breathed a fireball. Minato prepared to dodge but...

"Do you use that to light campfires?"

... the fireball wasn't much impressive. Obito scowled at his messed-up attempt and for a moment it looked he was going to cry.

"I can do a perfect fireball! Just watch!" he boasted.

"I think it was enough," Minato stopped him. He didn't want to see how would the genin botch up his second attempt. "Does anyone else want to try?" During his bout with Obito, the other two young ninja hid themselves, but Minato could still tell where they were. Even Kakashi's best attempt couldn't fool him.

He felt the telltale signs of genjutsu being cast on him. He broke it easily and looked around. A handful of senbon was heading towards him, their tips coated in something. He dodged.

"That was a really simple strategy, Rin," he commented. "You'll have to try harder." The girl didn't respond.

"What about you, Kakashi?" he turned to the young chuunin. "Won't you give it a go?" Kakashi was a bit startled that Minato could see right through his camouflage, but he reasoned that if the jounin was really as good as they said, he should be able to. And that also meant he was too good for Kakashi to defeat. So what else could he do? His teammates had already proven themselves useless. He'd have to do it alone. He didn't really need to defeat the man, just to grab a bell. He needed a strategy. Some distraction and then he could snatch the bell and run. At that moment, Obito decided to attack again. Good. That would distract Minato for a while and he'll have enough time to lay a trap. He ignored as his teammate got thrown around and started working.

Obito got defeated again and crawled into the forest. As he nursed his bruises, he pondered how to get the bell. He couldn't do it alone, that much he had already established. He needed help. The Hatake brat was the better one of his teammates, but he was also an arrogant ass. Obito estimated his chances of getting help from him as next to zero. He'd have more success with Rin. She seemed much more reasonable. And he liked her, unlike Kakashi, whom he already couldn't stand. Yes, it would be much better if he were on a team with Rin than the silver-haired moron.

Convincing Rin took some time. It turned out that she would much rather be on a team with Kakashi, who she seemed to develop a crush on, much to Obito's dismay. But she reluctantly agreed, probably because she didn't know where Kakashi was. The two genin started working on a strategy.

Meanwhile Kakashi had finished his preparations. The traps were set, now he only needed to lure the jounin there. He threw a couple of kunai at him. Minato caught them from the air.

"So you finally decided to come out to play, Kakashi?" the jounin asked. Instead of an answer, the chuunin threw a bunch of shuriken. Minato dodged. He realized he stepped right into the path of two lightning-charged kunai. Only his lightning-quick reflexes saved him. "Not bad, he commented, but not good enough." He started walking towards Kakashi's hiding spot. He was aware that that was what the boy wanted, but he was curious what did the prodigy come up with.

As he entered the foliage, he immediately noticed the ninja wire close to the ground. It was disguised only half-heartily. That meant he was supposed to spot it. So where was the real trap? Ah, there. The second wire was nigh invisible. Minato had to admit that the chuunin was good.

He jumped over the wires and landed far behind them. He correctly expected that there was a third trap concealed right behind them. That disturbed Kakashi's plan. The silver-haired boy frowned. He didn't have the time and equipment to build more traps capable of capturing the jounin. He had to somehow herd him to the spot.

He threw a handful of shuriken, trying to make him dodge in the desired direction. Minato deflected them with a kunai. Seeing the ploy didn't work, he decided to try something stronger. He took out two kunai with Exploding Tags. He threw them a bit to Minato's side, again attempting to make him dodge in the desired direction. Sure even the jounin couldn't block this.

The tags exploded. Kakashi blinked. He couldn't see the jounin anywhere. Where did he go?

"Kakashi?" a voice whispered into his ear. The boy turned. There was standing his sensei, completely unsigned, with a scary expression on his face. The boy jumped away in shock, barely suppressing a startled scream. He felt his feet hitting something and then ninja wire wrapped around him and pulled him high into the trees. Oh no. He got caught in his own trap.

Before he could call himself an idiot, Obito charged at the jounin. He was supposed to occupy him while Rin would sneak behind the man and grab the bells. It didn't work out. The moment the girl saw Kakashi captured, she forgot all about the plan. With a concerned yell, she ran for the trapped boy, tripping over one of the wires. She ended up bound beside Kakashi in the next moment.

Obito's now solitary attack was predictably ineffective. Minato grabbed his wrist and threw him after his teammates. Soon, all of them were hanging from the trees, entangled in Kakashi's traps.

Shortly thereafter, Rin and Obito were sitting near three wooden posts while Kakashi stood tied to the middle one.

"Why I am the one tied up?" the masked boy complained.

"Think about it, Kakashi," the golden-haired man suggested. The answer was that while Obito and Rin at least tried to cooperate, Kakashi didn't, but the three children had to figure it out on their own.

"I had the best strategy," the chuunin claimed.

"You got caught in your own trap," the jounin pointed out. The young prodigy looked ashamed.

"All in all, your performance wasn't very impressive," Minato addressed the whole team. "I have half of a mind to send you back to the Academy now. But I'll give you one more chance. You can try again in the afternoon. But it will be much harder. I won't be going easy on you anymore. For now, enjoy your lunch. And don't feed Kakashi." With those words, he shunshined away.

"Shouldn't we untie Kakashi?" Rin suggested. "The ropes seem tight. It must hurt him."

"But what if Minato-sensei sees us?" Obito worried.

"I can't see him," Rin said.

"I can't either," Obito added. Kakashi suppressed a snort. Of course they couldn't see him. He couldn't either. But Namikaze was a jounin. Most likely, he was observing them even now. But he didn't say anything. If they broke the rules, they'd get kicked out and that would mean less competition for him.

"So let's do it," the girl prompted.

"But Minato-sensei would know the moment he comes back," the Uchiha pointed out.

"But look at him," Rin said. That rope must be hurting him. His wrist is already turning red. It might be even disturbing the circulation in his hands."

"Uh, what?" Obito blinked.

"He might have trouble if he stays this way for long," the kunoichi explained.

"Well," Obito scratched his head, "Minato-sensei forbade us to feed him, not to untie him." Rin smiled and cut Kakashi's bonds with her kunai. The chuunin sighed in relief and massaged his wrists. The ropes didn't cut deep into them, but it was still uncomfortable.

With a swirl of leaves, Minato appeared in front of them, his face grave. The three youngsters looked at him with a mixture of worry and determination.

"You three," the jounin spoke. The three young ninja gulped. "Pass."

{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}

Kakashi sat still and stiff after Naruto finished. How did the orange-clad menace know about that? He was so deep in his thoughts that he even ignored the amused glances Sakura and Sasuke shot him upon learning that he was the one who ended up tied to the post. And that he got caught in his own trap to boot. It almost made their bell test look good. Almost.

"Was that enough to convince you?" the blond genin asked. A part of Kakashi wanted to say yes, but he thought it was possible that he had learned about this from somewhere else. He had no idea how, but maybe there was a way.

"I'll need more proof to be convinced."

"_You asked for it, Kakashi," _Obito grinned maliciously. _"They're going to learn about the mission to Tea Country."_

[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]

Kakashi moved stealthily along the street. In front of him, the mark was walking slowly through the crowds, sometimes stopping to look at the merchandise on the market stalls, sometimes stopping to chat with an acquaintance. The young chuunin was straining his ears to hear every word of her conversations. He wished he knew the secret jutsu of the Inuzuka clan that enhanced their senses. It would simplify his mission greatly. This way he was lucky if he could understand every third word. And that just wasn't enough. He needed a proof that she was the spy, and if possible, identify her contact. But so far he had no luck. Everything he had heard sounded completely innocent. _Maybe they were using a secret code, _he thought. He listened intently for possible keywords and key phrases, but either they weren't using any or they were too sophisticated for him to recognize. Did the prices she was haggling about have another meaning? Or were it the names of common friends? He couldn't tell.

This went on for several hours. Even with all his training, Kakashi found it mind-numbingly boring. But he couldn't afford to be inattentive. Any moment the woman might meet with her contact and he mustn't miss it. He was a shinobi of Konoha. He had to complete his mission no matter his discomfort. But he felt like this might be just too hard for him.

Then finally a break in the routine occurred. The mark met with another woman, one Kakashi had never seen before, and after a short chat they left the marketplace. Kakashi rushed after them, making sure they couldn't spot him.

After a short walk, the pair arrived at their destination. It was the local hot spring resort. They walked right in. Now Kakashi was faced with a problem. The part of the baths they walked in was women only. He wasn't allowed to go in and he couldn't see a good hiding spot close enough to hear their conversation clearly. Fortunately he knew a solution to the problem. Henge would allow him to look like a woman and walk right in. Then he could sit close to them and hear their every word. They won't be able to detect him; they weren't trained shinobi. At least he hoped they weren't. He'd have to take the risk.

With a few handseals, his appearance changed to that of a young girl. Reluctantly, he pulled down his mask. He hated showing his face to people, but he consoled himself that it won't really be his face they'd see. He took out his money pouch and purchased a ticked.

He walked to the changing room and began undressing. Then he heard a shout of: "Pervert!" quickly accompanied by other voices shouting the same word or simply shrieking.

Kakashi was startled. He checked himself. His henge held. They couldn't have seen through it. But then a bar of soap hit the back of his head, informing him that yes, the women meant him. And the bolder of them were advancing at him, all of them looking murderous. He realized that there was no way he could continue his mission now. He decided that a retreat was in order.

He sprinted out of the onsen. Right out of the door, he collided with somebody and fell. As he was picking himself from the ground, he recognized that it was his idiot teammate Obito. He had no idea what was the Uchiha doing there, but he cursed his luck. He had no desire to deal with him now on top of all his problems. And then the goggled boy pointed at him and laughed so hard his eyes began watering.

"Oh, Kakashi, you've never seen a naked woman, have you?"

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

The visible part of Kakashi's face was red. He shot an angry glare towards his snickering team, but he had to admit that he was beat. No-one could know about that. He hadn't told a living soul and he was fairly sure that neither did the idiot of an Uchiha. Though with his clownish teammate one could never be sure. Kakashi had threatened him with gruesome death should he tell anybody, but that wasn't guaranteed to work on Obito. He would find it extremely hilarious to tell somebody how Kakashi had made an idiot of himself because of some self-important Tea Country businessman, who thought his competitors knew too much about his dealings. The fiasco had prompted his research into the opposite gender, which had since become his passion. So this wasn't really a proof. Maybe he should ask for more. And maybe not. He had more embarrassing secrets Obito knew about and he didn't want them revealed in front of his genin team. He'd lose all authority.

"I believe you," he said. He realized that he was thinking as if Obito really was there. Naruto sighed in relief.

"I still say the dobe made it up," Sasuke scoffed. Naruto scowled at him. He wished he had some embarrassing stories on The Last Uchiha too, but his dead entourage didn't share any and there was little chance they would.

"Why did you make me tell in front of them, Kakashi-sensei?" he sighed.

"Because teammates shouldn't keep secrets from each other," the jounin answered.

"Oh?" Naruto looked at him dubiously. "Coming from the man who refused to tell us anything during our introductions, that sounds like hypocrisy." Naruto thought he heard a chuckle, but he couldn't tell who did it come from.

"I couldn't tell you much," the jounin explained. "It isn't meant for children."

"_Excuses!" _Obito shouted. _"He never tells anybody anything. But he gets cranky when somebody doesn't tell him something."_

"Obito says it's crap," Naruto relayed. Kakashi blinked.

"Naruto-baka! Don't say such thing to Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura shouted.

"Obito says it," Naruto corrected. "And I agree with him."

"Obito. Right," the kunoichi scoffed. "Like I'd believe such a ridiculous tale just because you know some embarrassing stories on Kakashi-sensei. Everybody knows that spiritism is a con."

"As far as your stupid pranks go, this one takes the crown," Sasuke commented.

"_Hey! Stop insulting him!" _Obito scolded her.

"_Insult him all you want," _Fugaku suggested.

Naruto sighed. He didn't know what might convince Sakura. She had no spirits trailing behind her. He cursed Kakashi for making him tell. _No secrets between teammates, _he scoffed. _What a farce._

"You know what?" he snapped. "Don't believe me. I'm the class clown, remember? I was just pulling your leg." He turned on his heel and stormed into the forest.

"Naruto! Wait!" "Where are you going?" _"Hey! You haven't told Kakashi anything yet!" "Run and don't come back!"_ The blond genin didn't listen. He just wanted to get away from them. He felt so angry at everybody. He wasn't sure what he would do if he stayed. Especially after he recently discovered what he was capable of.

././././././././././././././././././././././././.

End note: Please don't kill me. This is as far as I wrote it. I'm already working on the next chapter, but it contains the type of scenes I have always trouble writing.


	22. Chapter 22

**Author's note:** Whooo, the next chapter is finally here. I apologize for the delay, but writing this has been like pulling teeth. I don't know whetehr this is up to everybody's standard, but it isn't getting any better, so deal with it. In the next chapter we can hopefully start with the Chuunin Exams, so it should get more interesting.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto.

**Through the Eyes of Death**

Kakashi watched the foliage where Naruto disappeared to. For a moment, he debated going after him, but then he decided against it. The countryside around here was safe, there wasn't anything that could cause a genin serious harm. And besides, he could still tell where the boy was. In case of trouble, he could rush to his aid.

As he listened to Sasuke and Sakura assure each other that Naruto was making the whole thing up, He reflected on what he thought about it. Could he believe it? The two stories were convincing, but they weren't absolute proof. He wished he could have asked about more, but then Sasuke and Sakura spoke up and chased their teammate away. It would have been better if they hadn't been there when he questioned the blond. Maybe promoting trust between teammates was overrated. But he remembered how he, Rin and Obito had all kept secrets from each other. Their teamwork had suffered from it. He wanted to avoid the some mistake with his own genin, but it looked like he made an even bigger one. He wasn't sure whether the fragile bonds of Team 7 would be able to survive it.

He considered what he should do to salvage the situation. Go after Naruto and talk to him? Probably. But what should he say that wouldn't make the mess worse? Well, he'd just have to wing it. He got up and headed into the forest in search for his missing student.

Naruto was fuming silently. Damn Kakashi. Why did that sorry excuse of a sensei have to force him to tell? Now his teammates thought he was crazy or a chronic liar. Well, they had probably thought so before too, but now even more so. Stupid pervert. Had he no concept of privacy? Considering the kind of books he kept reading in public, he probably didn't. But Naruto was going to teach him. As the unofficial prank king of Konoha, he was going to humiliate him so bad he'd be ashamed to show his face in public. Well, the silver-haired man already didn't show his face in public. He'd have to shame him so badly he'd have to walk through the sewers and even the rats would sneer at him. But what would a man who openly flaunted reading the Icha-Icha books consider humiliating? And how to shame somebody who had absolutely no sense of shame? That would take some planning, but Naruto was determined to accomplish it.

Before he could come up with a punishment terrible enough, he heard Obito's voice call.

"_Hey, Naruto, where are you? We're coming." _So that meant Kakashi was on his way too. The boy didn't want to talk to him, but he knew that if the jounin really wanted to find him, then he would. So he stayed, awaiting the undoubtedly unpleasant conversation.

Then the leaves rustled and Kakashi stepped out of the foliage.

"Yo," he greeted with his trademark one-eyed smile. Naruto felt the sudden urge to punch him, but he restrained himself. His revenge had to be something much worse than a simple punch.

"Hn." It occurred to him that he sounded like Sasuke, but he didn't care. After this a tense silence followed, because neither Kakashi nor Naruto knew what to say. Obito was the one to break it.

"_Didn't you come here to talk? Hey, Kakashi, say something__, you moron!" _Then he made such a face at the jounin that Naruto couldn't help but laugh.

"What's so funny here?" the silver-haired man asked.

"Obito's making faces," the genin replied once he stopped laughing.

"_I'll make some more!" _the goggled Uchiha announced and immediately did so. Naruto laughed again.

"That must be some very funny faces," Kakashi remarked.

"They are," Naruto nodded. "Too bad you can't see it."

"That was what I wanted to talk to you about," the jounin said.

"So?" Naruto asked warily. "Are you now embarrassed that you said you believed me?"

"No," the masked man shook his head not liking the guarded look in his student's eyes. "Sasuke and Sakura never knew Obito, so to them you were just making up some funny stories, but I've lived through it and I knew Obito. I can't deny what you said was the truth. I just wonder how do you know. The ghosts sound a bit too far-fetched."

"But that's the truth," the orange-clad genin replied. "Do you need more proof? Obito knows loads of embarrassing stories."

"Is he here now?" the masked man inquired.

"_Of course I'm here!" _The Uchiha tried to kick his teammate, but his leg went right through. Then he pouted.

"Yes," Naruto confirmed, trying to keep a serious face despite Obito's antics.

"So what does he say?" There was a hint of eagerness in the jounin's usually stoic voice.

"_You're a moron, Kakashi!"_

"He says you're a moron," Naruto relayed. The masked man chuckled.

"That sounds like something Obito would say."

"_Because it's true, you moron!"_ This time Naruto couldn't resist and had to smile.

"What's so funny here?" Kakashi inquired.

"Obito is," the genin replied.

"_Hey! Don't make fun of me!"_the dead Uchiha protested in vain.

"He was always the funny one," the jounin said.

"_And you were always the stupid one! Hey Kakashi! This isn't what you wanted to talk about!"_

"You wanted to talk about something else, didn't you?" Naruto asked.

"_Go on! Say it!"_ Obito cheered his old teammate.

"Uh..."

"_Go on, Kakashi. You can do it!"_ Obito shouted impatiently.

"well..."

"_What's taking you so long? Say it already!"_ Obito looked about to start tearing out his hair in frustration.

"I'm sorry I made you talk in front of Sasuke and Sakura." _Kakashi was sorry? _Now Naruto was surprised. He had no idea the jounin was capable of being sorry. Or was he? Wasn't he just saying it without meaning it? The genin had no way to be sure. But there was one thing he did know for certain: 'sorry' wasn't enough.

"What did you expect?" the blond retorted. "Didn't you notice they aren't fond of me?"

"It isn't so bad," the silver-haired man said. "They're just being skeptical. It's quite a big news to swallow."

"They would have made fun of anything I'd say," Naruto pointed out.

"They wouldn't," Kakashi disagreed.

"You talk like you don't know them," Naruto scoffed.

"_Kakashi was never good with people."_

"A life and death situation often brings a team close together," Kakashi stated.

"Well, this time it didn't work that well," the genin shot back. Though he had to admit, even in his anger at Kakashi, that the jounin was right. The Wave mission had brought Team 7 closer together. It just wasn't close enough.

"But it did help," Kakashi echoed his thoughts.

"What you just did certainly didn't help," Naruto snapped back.

"I already apologized," the one-eyed man shrugged nonchalantly.

"Do you think an apology is enough?" the blond boy snapped.

"What else do you want?" Hatake asked.

"_Moron! Moron! Kakashi, you're the king of all morons!"_ Obito shouted out his frustration.

"Making it up to me would be nice," Uzumaki answered. "But your idea of making up is giving somebody your perverted books, isn't it?"

"I don't give my books to anyone!" Kakashi shouted defensively. He would never part with his precious books. Never.

"That's alright," Naruto replied. "I wouldn't want them anyway."

"_They're crap! I don't get how Kakashi can read them all the time!"_

"And Obito says they're bad," the blond added.

"Icha-Icha? Bad? That's sacrilege!" the jounin exclaimed.

"Whatever," Naruto shrugged. "But you didn't want to talk about them."

"But you said they are bad! Naruto, I have to convince you about their supreme quality!"

"Obito said they are bad," the genin corrected. "And I don't want to see your perverted books close up. And you're forgetting what you came here to talk about."

"But you insulted the Icha-Icha books..."

"_Stop it, you douchebag!" _Obito kicked Kakashi again, but once again his teammate wasn't even aware of it, much to the Uchiha's frustration.

"I'm not interested in the Icha-Icha books," Naruto said sternly. "Either you return to the original topic or we have nothing to talk about." He stood up, indicating that he was ready to leave.

"I wanted to tell Obito that I am sorry." There, he said it.

"_You say it all the time!"_ the dead Uchiha slammed his head into a tree, but it went right through.

"He says you say it all the time," Naruto relayed his answer. "And you don't need me to tell you that. He's always with you."

"Really?"

"_Of course! Where else would I be, you dummy?"_

"Yes," the genin confirmed. "And he isn't happy with you."

"Hm?" Kakashi's response sounded noncommittal, but Naruto could tell that the jounin looked a bit subdued. It was almost imperceptible, but it was there.

"_Of course I'm unhappy with you! Stop wallowing in the past! Do you have any idea what is it like to watch as you waste away your life?"_

"He tells you to stop wallowing in the past," Naruto relayed. "He says he can't bear watching you wasting away your life."

"What?" The usually so calm jounin-sensei looked completely shocked. "But... what? Obito?" The jounin's eyes darted left and right, trying to figure out where the ghost of his friend was standing. "Aren't you angry I caused your death?"

Obito kicked him. _"Moron! Moron! Moron! Didn't I already tell you I wasn't mad at you for that? I gave you my eye to use it well, not to read porn!"_

"Now he got angry," Naruto reported. Kakashi looked down. The genin felt a sudden urge to kick him in Obito's stead. But no. He was going to do something much worse than kicking him. He wouldn't be avenging only himself but Obito as well.

"He says he isn't angry about his death," the blond continued, "but he says the eye he gave you isn't for reading porn."

"_That should be obvious," _Obito added. He made a perfect impression of Iruka-sensei scolding a stupid student. Kakashi just stared. He was trying to wrap his mind about what Naruto just told him. Obito wasn't angry that he had caused his death? How could he not be angry when Kakashi himself was? That made no sense. Naruto must have made that up. But how could he know about Obito? There was no-one alive who could have told him. His ability to see ghosts was a plausible explanation. But did Naruto relay truthfully everything they told him? There was no way to confirm it. So was he lying? What for? Or was he telling the truth? But that couldn't be the truth. The jounin just couldn't believe it.

"_Say something!" _Obito shouted when Kakashi was completely silent for a minute. The silver-haired man didn't react.

"Well, will you say something?" Naruto asked.

"Uh?" Kakashi snapped from his musings. "Did you say something?"

"_This isn't Maito Gai!"_

"Not really," Naruto replied.

"Well, then I'll go."

"Well," Naruto shrugged. "Bye."

Kakashi got up and left. It was strange not to see him disappear in his customary swirl of leaves. He must have been really shaken to forget to use shunshin. Naruto watched him go silently. He wasn't sure what to think about his reaction. Did Kakashi believe him or not? It was hard to tell. It would require further investigation. But there was one thing he was sure of: he was going to pay back Kakashi for forcing him to tell.

[^][^][^][^][^][^][^][^][^][^][^][^]

The rest of their journey to Konoha was uneventful. They gave their reports to the Hokage (omitting the part about the ghosts), who looked mildly unsettled by them.

The next day they resumed training in their usual routine. There were only a few changes. The first was that everybody now trained with more effort. The change was especially prominent with Sakura. The second was that Sasuke sometimes cracked some 'ghost' joke. It was obvious that he didn't believe Naruto's confession, but didn't consider him crazy either. He treated it like a joke. That was fine with Naruto. He usually replied to it by quoting something from Sasuke's ghostly entourage. It was fun to watch how it unsettled the boy. Kakashi acted like nothing happened, but Naruto noticed him looking at him oddly on several occasions. The jounin didn't ask about Obito again. He still didn't come to terms with what Naruto had told him. It went completely against his beliefs. After hating himself for so many years, he couldn't just stop. So he continued with his daily routines like nothing had happened.

Aside from that, Naruto was trying to figure out how he had chased off the ghosts during the battle of the bridge. So far, he was unable to replicate the effect. Too bad that he was unable to remember the time he had spent under the influence of the Kyuubi's chakra clearly. He even considered trying to call of the demon's chakra again, but in the end decided against it. He couldn't be sure whether he'd be able to stay in control and he was sure that such action would scare the citizens of Konoha into mindless panic. It just wasn't worth the risk.

And the time he didn't spend either training or experimenting, he spent preparing revenge on Kakashi. He didn't want to rush it. He was determined to make it the best of all his pranks.

(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)

Kakashi was having a bad day. It didn't seem that way when he woke up, but once he went to the shower, he discovered that somebody had replaced his shampoo with green hair dye and his soap turned his skin brown. No matter what he did, he couldn't wash it off. He wanted to just stay home for the day, but he was supposed to meet his team for training. And despite having no problem with showing three hours late, he was responsible enough that he couldn't not come. So he applied a genjutsu that made him look normal and went. Unfortunately for him, Sasuke was practicing with his Sharingan and saw right through his disguise. After that, all three genin were laughing so hard they couldn't stand and they didn't care about Kakashi's explanation that he was practicing a new disguise, the secret Looking Like a Tree technique. No matter what he said, he couldn't convince them that such jutsu really existed. It was really a shame. Students should have more faith in their sensei.

He was spared further humiliation by the bird announcing that the Hokage called for a jounin meeting. He parted with his genin, who thought he was running away, and headed to the Hokage tower, reapplying his genjutsu first. Unfortunately for him, the jounin gathered there were jounin for a reason and they had no trouble seeing through his genjutsu. And they knew there was no Looking Like a Tree technique, at least not one that used green hair dye.

Then his eternal annoyance Maito Gai congratulated him on his youthfulness. That in itself wasn't that strange, but then the Green Beast shouted that only a truly youthful man would display his youthful strength so proudly. It was then that Kakashi realized that his pants had somehow become partially transparent over the course of the day (he was sure they were normal when he put them on in the morning), displaying his boxers with a pattern of little orange books, which had become partially transparent as well. Kakashi was glad for the mask that hid the blush on his face. He just hoped it didn't become transparent as well. He quickly made his excuses and ran from the meeting, trying to salvage whatever dignity he had left. He heard Gai's shout that his hip rival wasn't so hip after all on his way out.

He returned home completely beaten. At least the day was finally over. He couldn't take any more of this. When he wanted to find comfort in his trusted Icha-Icha books, first edition, signed by the author, he found out that somebody had replaced them with religious pamphlets about the dangers of sin and virtues of a chaste life.

.\.\.\.\.\.\.\.\.\.\.\.\.\.\.\.\.\.\.\.\.\.\

Sakura was walking home after the day's training. She was sweaty, covered in dirt, her hair was a mess and her dress was in disarray. A little over a month ago she wouldn't have been caught dead looking like this. Now she didn't give a damn. What was more important was that today's training was a success. She got the hang of a new genjutsu technique and her taijutsu was improving too. It was slow going, but the progress was already noticeable. She was getting stronger. Soon she would be worthy of fighting beside Sasuke-kun, instead of hiding behind him. Soon, Sasuke-kun wouldn't think that she was a dead weight anymore. Life was good.

"Forehead-girl?" A familiar voice interrupted her thoughts. "What happened to your hair?"

Sakura slowly turned to face her once best friend. Yamanaka Ino looked like she always did. Slim girl in a fashionable purple dress, her long blond hair tied in a high ponytail with not one hair out of place. She was the embodiment of feminine beauty in Sakura's eyes. Once she used to admire her and then envy her. But those days were long past.

"Fancy seeing you here, Ino-pig," Sakura greeted. "And don't worry about my hair. It got in my way so I cut it."

"So you gave up on Sasuke-kun?" Ino jeered. "He isn't going to notice you with short hair and dirty dress. Not that he was going to notice you with that billboard brow anyway." Once, that comment would strike Sakura deeply, making her insecurities surge. Now it did nothing. Sakura wondered how much she had changed since the Wave mission. Ino suddenly seemed like a spoiled brat to her.

"If you think he'll notice you, keep dreaming," she replied.

"Of course he will," the Yamanaka stated confidently. "Nobody can resist my beauty." It sounded so vain and deluded that Sakura had to laugh. That ticked Ino off. "What's so funny here?" she demanded.

"You are," Sakura answered between bouts of laughter.

"I don't see why, Billboard Brow," the blonde snapped. "You're the one in the dirty dress, with a haircut looking like it was done by a kunai," this made Sakura laugh harder, "and you still think you can get Sasuke-kun."

"I don't think anything like that," the pinkette assured her, surprising Ino. "I'm merely being a serious kunoichi now."

"A serious kunoichi?" Ino replied suspiciously. She didn't quite get what Sakura meant.

"You heard right," the pinkette nodded. "A serious kunoichi. So I won't have to hide behind my teammates anymore. And what about you? How do you do in a fight? Can you hold your own or do you have to be protected?"

"I can do just fine," the blonde scoffed. "It's not like I could hide behind Shikamaru and Chouji. They're both useless."

"You shouldn't talk like that about your teammates," Sakura chastised. A part of her told her that she was being a hypocrite. Didn't she consider Naruto useless just a few months ago? But she had wisened up since then. The Wave mission had changed everything. She understood that Naruto was a decent shinobi and the useless one was her. And she was working to do something about it.

"It's true," Ino insisted. "Shikamaru is so lazy that he's constantly asleep and Chouji spends all the time stuffing himself. He's so fat." Sakura sighed upon hearing this. It sounded like Team 10 had some serious trouble. She wished they could have an eye-opening mission like her team did. It would do wonders for them. Providing they survived. She closed her eyes and imagined the second edition of the Ino-Shika-Chou formation on the Wave mission. It ended up with three horribly mutilated corpses. So maybe sending them on a tough mission wouldn't be a good idea. But what else could help them? At that moment, Sakura realized with a start that she didn't think of Ino as her rival anymore. Their fighting over Sasuke suddenly seemed pointless. The young Yamanaka was a fellow shinobi of Konoha and her former friend. She couldn't wish her ill. Even during the worst days of their rivalry, she would be devastated if she had learned that Ino was killed on a mission. Now she wanted to help her. But how to accomplish it, because Ino didn't look willing to accept her help? And then it hit her. She smiled brightly.

"You know what, Ino? Let's see which one of us is the better kunoichi."

"You think you can beat me?" the beauty queen scoffed.

"You think I can't?" Sakura retorted.

"Yes," Ino nodded.

"Then let's try it," the pinkette suggested. "But you should better change from this pretty dress or you might ruin it."

"You won't even touch me," the Yamanaka boasted.

They headed to the training grounds. They agreed on a simple taijutsu spar. Sakura was exhausted after her training and the fresh Ino had the advantage. But still Sakura managed to push her, knocking her into the dirt once and soiling her pristine dress. That made Ino mad and she attacked with renewed vigor. Sakura's fatigue soon overcame her and she lost, but even Ino had to admit that it had been close. That unsettled her. Was Forehead-girl catching up to her? She couldn't accept it. She resolved to train harder so the next time Sakura won't give her trouble. And Sasuke-kun would see that she's the better one.


	23. Chapter 23

**Author's note:** So here's another chapter. Sorry it's late and short, but this is all I wrote and all I have to publish. I hope I will be able to update again soon, but I make no promises.**  
**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto  
**

**Through the Eyes of Death**

The days and weeks flew by quickly. Things between Team 7 were still awkward after Naruto's confession. Nobody had quite figured out what to make out of it yet. Teamwork suffered for it. It made Kakashi long for the days in the Wave Country, where his three genin miraculously cooperated. He wondered what it would take to make them act like a coherent unit again. Should he take another C-rank mission for his team? But C-ranks tended to be boring and uneventful, what had happened in Wave was a rarity, so it probably wouldn't help. His team needed some real danger to make them work together. And that was why, when he suddenly found himself in a jounin meeting, with the Hokage asking them who wanted to enter their team into the Chuunin Exams, he entered his students despite being almost certain that they weren't ready. But the Exams were guaranteed to supply just the kind of danger his three students needed. The fact that they wouldn't have to travel to another village was an added bonus. He ignored everybody's surprised gasps, which became even more surprised after Asuma and Kurenai entered their teams as well. He didn't understand why everybody acted so shocked. The Exams were an excellent opportunity to teach the new genin about the realities of shinobi life and how their abilities compared to others. And considering they were held in Konoha, he was surprised that more rookie teams weren't entered. When he heard his self-proclaimed eternal rival Maito Gai enter his team as well, he couldn't help but chuckle behind his mask. This exam was going to be interesting.

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For Naruto, the day started like any other one. After the team training in the morning ended a bit sooner than usual, the trio of genin parted their ways. Naruto wanted to go to Ichiraku's for lunch, when he noticed an oddly painted box with holes following him. He smiled. So Konohamaru and his friends decided to show up again. He always loved it when they came to play. The three children were funny without trying. Like now. Their attempt at disguise was downright hilarious.

When he was sure he could speak without breaking into a fit of giggles (because Konohamaru usually threw a fit when people laughed at him, making them laugh even harder), he told the trio to come out. They did it in an attempt of a dramatic manner, which was ruined by the fact that they exploded the smoke bomb in their own faces.

After the three children stopped coughing, they talked for a while, Naruto promising that he would play ninja with them. But then Sakura appeared, in bad mood because her attempt to get Sasuke to eat lunch with her failed again, and Konohamaru had the bad sense to make a comment about her forehead. That never failed to tick the kunoichi off, so the three children plus Naruto ended up running from an enraged fury. In their haste to get away, they completely failed to pay attention to where they were going. They soon came to regret it when Konohamaru ran face-first into something.

That something turned up to be a young ninja with a Suna hitai-ate, black suit, big package on his back and facepaint that was probably meant to be scary. Instead it made him look like a clown. But the expression on his face made up for it.

The Suna genin reached down and picked up Konohamaru by his collar. "That hurt, you little piece of turd," he growled.

"Konohamaru!" Moegi screamed.

"Stop it, Kankurou, we'll get in trouble," a Suna kunoichi said to the clownish boy, who was probably her teammate, despite being clearly older than him.

"Let go of me!" Konohamaru yelled angrily. Kankurou just grinned widely.

"Let's play a little before the boss comes," he suggested. His voice left no doubt that his idea of 'play' was enjoyable only to him.

"Let go of him unless you want to cause an international incident," Naruto warned him. The black-clad Suna genin was unimpressed.

"Don't be ridiculous," he scoffed. "Who would ever care about this little piece of crap?"

"The Hokage might, considering this is his grandson," Naruto replied evenly. Kankurou looked doubtful.

"Yes!" Konohamaru screamed. "So let go of me before I get mad!"

"Anybody could say that," the Suna genin scoffed.

"You really should let him go," the kunoichi suggested.

"Don't be a spoilsport, Temari," Kankurou said. "I'll just roughen him up a bit. Maybe it will teach him to watch where he's going."

"You can't do that!" Konohamaru screamed with fear in his voice. "I'm the Hokage's grandson! Let me go!"

"Not a chance," Kankurou shook his head, grinning maliciously.

"Konohamaru!" Moegi shouted.

Naruto realized that the Suna genin meant it. He had to do something to save his young friend. But what? The other boy was bigger, older and probably even stronger. And he was also unconcerned about causing an incident, which was strange. But there was no time to wonder about the possible reasons for his behavior. He had to figure out how to outmaneuver an opponent who had no qualms about hurting other people. And whose abilities were a complete unknown. Distraction might be his best option.

He took advantage of the fact that they were standing next to the corner of a building. He quickly created a pair of Shadow Clones, making them appear behind the corner, so the duo of Suna shinobi couldn't see them. He didn't even glance in their direction, so he wouldn't give away their presence. The clones knew perfectly well what they were supposed to do without his instruction. He didn't have to look to know that they took off through the street and disappeared behind the corner. He could fully concentrate on dealing with the black-clad Suna nin.

"You must feel really strong, picking on a little kid," he called at the Suna genin.

"You must feel really smart, sounding like a cliché cheap book," Kankurou shot back.

"That's still a lot smarter than somebody who attacks a citizen of a village he's a guest in. Do you want to get arrested?" Naruto asked walking to him.

"We can really get in trouble," Temari said worriedly.

"Like they are any trouble," Kankurou scoffed, making a small movement with his empty hand. Naruto suddenly stumbled and fell. "Konoha genin are really weak."

Naruto slowly got up. He recognized the technique Kankurou had used on him. So he was a puppeteer. It was an art Suna was renown for. Naruto had never encountered it before. But he had heard some tips on dealing with it. He started with sticking his feet to the ground using the tree-walking technique.

"That was a neat trick," he said, "but just a trick. If you can't do anything worse than trip people up, it's pretty useless."

Instead of an answer, Kankurou tried to trip him up again. But he realized that he couldn't. An angry scowl appeared on his face. He tried to trip Naruto again, this time using more force. Naruto had to bit back a cry of pain, because having his shins pulled at by Kankurou's chakra strings was really unpleasant. But he stood his ground.

"So when are you going to do something?" Naruto taunted. "I'm waiting."

"Shut up," Kankurou growled, released the chakra strings and made a movement like he wanted to do something, probably reach for the bundle on his back, but then he realized he'd need both hands for it and that would mean letting go of Konohamaru. He reached into his hip pouch and took out a kunai instead. Naruto tensed. Things were getting dangerous. He could dodge or block a kunai at this distance, but there was a whole crowd of onlookers it could hit instead. And not all of them had ninja reflexes. But fortunately it looked like it wouldn't get that far. Naruto's clones finally completed their run around the block and were now creeping towards Kankurou from behind. The Suna duo remained oblivious of their presence. Now all he had to do was occupy his attention until they finished their task.

"Careful with that thing, you might cut yourself," Naruto said in a mock-serious tone. Kankurou's painted face twisted in anger. He sure was easy.

"Suna nin know how to handle their kunai, unlike you Konoha wimps!" he shouted angrily. He lifted his hand to prove it by throwing his weapon at Naruto, but by the time the clones got close enough to act.

Kankurou turned in surprise when he detected movement behind him. He slashed with the kunai and dispersed one of the clones, but the second one managed to thrust something small in his face. It turned out to be a smoke bomb and it exploded right under Kankurou's nose. The boy started coughing violently. He dropped Konohamaru so he could wipe his face with both hands. Some of the dust had gotten into his eyes too. The original Naruto quickly swept in, grabbed the Hokage's grandson and carried him away from the Suna duo.

"Are you alright?" Naruto asked the small boy. Konohamaru nodded, despite looking shaken.

"I'm going to..." Kankurou started angrily before breaking into a fit of coughs.

"I told you to stop it," Temari said smugly, obviously trying hard not to laugh at her brother's misfortune. As he was trying to wipe his eyes, he had smudged his warpaint and looked really comical now.

"What are you bastards doing in our village?" Sasuke's voice asked from nearby. Naruto turned in surprise to see his teammate sitting in a tree. He had never noticed when had the last Uchiha appeared. Which was strange, considering that his ghostly entourage was hurling insults at the Suna ninja. Naruto had a hard time not to blush at some of them.

Kankurou scowled, but the effect was lost because his eyes were tearing after being hit by Naruto's smoke bomb. Temari blushed slightly. Naruto rolled his eyes. Why did all the girls like Sasuke? What did they see in him?

"Stop crying, Kankurou," a new voice sounded from nearby. "You're an embarrassment to our village." Kankurou and Temari immediately froze in terror. That seemed odd to Naruto until he turned and looked at the newcomer. Then it became immediately apparent what they were so scared of.

There, upside down on a tree branch, stood a redhead boy of about Naruto's age with a big gourd on his back. He had large black circles around his eyes and the look he was shooting his teammates could freeze flames. But that wasn't what was so scary about him. That would be the sinister aura surrounding him. And the ghosts. Naruto had never seen so many ghosts following one person. They were everywhere. They crowded around the redhead, pushing each other, silent and scowling, trying to get as close to him as possible They seemed to be occupying the same space at once. Naruto had never seen something like it before. What did it mean? And what could have happened in the boy's past to attach so many ghosts to him? Naruto didn't want to think about it. The answer couldn't possibly be good.

"G-gaara," Kankurou stammered. He had stopped coughing. He appeared to be too terrified to cough.

"Loosing yourself to a fight and then loosing the fight, how pathetic," Gaara continued. "Why do you think we came to this village?"

"They started it..." Kankurou began a rather childish explanation.

"Shut up or I'll kill you," Gaara said in a flat, conversational tone. Yet there was no doubt that he would really do it. Kankurou immediately fell silent.

"I'm sorry," he said after a second.

"I'm also really sorry," Temari added, her voice trembling. Gaara seemed to ignore her completely. He stared at Naruto for a moment and then jumped down from the branch, landing between Temari and Kankurou.

"Let's go," he said. The Suna trio turned to leave. Naruto exhaled in relief. He didn't want to spend a moment longer in their presence than he absolutely had to. Especially Gaara's.

"Wait!" Sakura's voice stopped the three in their tracks. Naruto cursed inwardly. What was his airhead of a teammate thinking? Didn't she see she was way out of her league here, despite her recent training? "Judging from your hitai-ate, you are ninjas from the Hidden Sand Village, right?" Naruto wished she would stop it, but she paid him no attention. "You might be allies of our village but it is forbidden for shinobi to enter each other's village without permission. State your purpose. Depending on it, we might not be able to let you go." What was Sakura thinking? Did she really think she could do something about these three? Did she think she was being brave? In Naruto's book, it was a show of sheer suicidal stupidity. Even Sasuke, usually eager to confront strong opponents, was content to let them go this time. And his dead clan was huddling behind him, obviously scared.

"Talk about clueless," the Suna kunoichi scoffed, finally not looking scared anymore. "Don't you know anything?" She showed them her pass. "You're right. We came from Suna. We're here to compete in the Chuunin Exams."

_Chuunin Exams?_ Naruto mused. Was it the time already? Well, it wasn't like it mattered. There was no way Team 7 would be actually entered. Even Kakashi wasn't that crazy.

Sasuke jumped down from the tree, obviously not wanting to be outdone by Sakura's sudden show of daring. His dead relatives didn't follow him. They stayed in their place, some of them shouting at Sasuke to come back.

"What's your name?" Sasuke asked.

"You mean me?" Temari asked, blushing. This time Naruto didn't bother to stop rolling his eyes. Seriously, what was it with girls and Sasuke?

"No," The Last Uchiha said coldly. "You with the gourd."

"Gaara of the desert," the redhead said. "I am also interested in your name." Naruto didn't miss the expression on Gaara's teammate's faces. They were both scared and pitying. Naruto suddenly had a very bad feeling about everything.

"It's Uchiha Sasuke." Naruto really didn't like the expression in his teammate's eyes. It seemed too eager. Didn't he realize how dangerous the Suna genin was? Come to think of it, why was somebody like him even a genin?

"I'd like to meet you in the Exams," Gaara spoke, looking first at Sasuke and then Naruto. The orange-clad shinobi felt dread run along his spine at the sight of the cold teal eyes. At that moment, he was sure that the Suna boy wasn't all right in the head. He was glad that they wouldn't be entering the Chuunin Exams. If he never met Gaara again, it would be too soon.

And then he spotted her. She stood among the ghosts surrounding the Suna genin. At first glance, she seemed to be merely one of them, but on the second she was different. It was the look on her face. She wasn't angry or scared like all the others. She was sad. The sadness in her eyes was deep and heartbreaking. Such level of grief was rare even among the lingering souls. She was looking at Gaara with regret in her eyes. And then she turned to Naruto, gazing straight into his eyes. He stared back, transfixed. The woman's ghost then slowly walked halfway to him.

"_You can see me?" _she asked slowly. Naruto nodded. _"He didn't always used to be that way," _she sighed, turning to Gaara once more. _"I wish he could be like he used to once more."_

Then Gaara and his teammates turned and walked away. The woman shot Naruto an apologetic half-smile and rushed after them. They soon disappeared from his sight.

Naruto felt like he woke up from a dream or a nightmare when they were finally gone. Or maybe like a great weight was suddenly lifted from him. Or that the sun started shining again. This was one of the most eerie and scary experiences he ever had. He was relieved that it was finally over and they survived it in one piece.

"So, Gaara of the Desert," Sasuke spoke slowly. "I want to meet him in the Exams too." Even Fugaku wasn't supporting his decision this time. Mikoto was pleading him to reconsider with tearful eyes. The dark haired boy remained oblivious, for once not picking up even a trace of the ghosts' fear. Naruto felt like hitting him on the head to beat some sense into him, but he could tell that it would be useless. When Sasuke got this look in his eyes, there was no reasoning him. Besides, there would be no point anyway. They wouldn't be entering the Chuunin Exams anyway. Even Kakashi wasn't that crazy. Sure. And even if he was, Naruto could just not enter or have his whole team fail in the first round. Then they wouldn't have to face Gaara again. Sure, Sasuke would hate him for it, but that was something he was used to and could live with. They would survive and that was what was important. Everything else came second.


End file.
